This book, the first-ever collection of primary documents on North African history and the Holocaust, gives voice to the diversity of those involved—Muslims, Christians, and Jews; women, men, and children; black, brown, and white; the unknown and the notable; locals, refugees, the displaced, and the interned; soldiers, officers, bureaucrats, volunteer fighters, and the forcibly recruited. At times their calls are lofty, full of spiritual lamentation and political outrage. At others, they are humble, yearning for medicine, a cigarette, or a pair of shoes. Translated from French, Arabic, North African Judeo-Arabic, Spanish, Hebrew, Moroccan Darija, Tamazight (Berber), Italian, and Yiddish, or transcribed from their original English, these writings shed light on how war, occupation, race laws, internment, and Vichy French, Italian fascist, and German Nazi rule were experienced day by day across North Africa. Though some selections are drawn from published books, including memoirs, diaries, and collections of poetry, most have never been published before, nor previously translated into English. These human experiences, combined, make up the history of wartime North Africa.

North Africa, comprising Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya, is of particular strategic and economics importance to both the United States and the Soviet Union. Richard B. Parker provides an informed perspective on the problems facing the region with special emphasis on the U.S. interests there. Beginning with histories of the four states, Parker examines their common features and individual differences, showing that each retains distinct reacial, historical, and economic personalities. He also discusses the various elements that influence affairs in each of the states and explores the numerous policy issues and possible courses of action. Separate chapters are devoted to the effects of the Islamic fundamentalist movement, the guerrilla war in the Western Sahara, and foreign powers on the states of North Africa.

Alternately identified with either the countries of the Mediterranean, those of the Middle East, or other African territories, the nations of northern Africa occupy a unique physical and historical place. After centuries of fielding various foreign invaders, northern Africans have absorbed and co-opted Greek, Roman, and Arab peoples and traditions, among others. Under the pervasive turmoil that has ensued after colonial rule and internecine warfare, readers will encounter a region of various traditions that stands at a unique crossroads between several very different worlds.