A Savage War of Peace

Alistair Horne's history of the Algerian War covers its background, its course from 1954 to 1962 and its aftermath. Although war was never formally declared, the conflict toppled six French governments and the Fourth Republic itself, brought de Gaulle back to power and nearly set off civil war in France, and it was marked by both revolutionary terror and torture. The book opens with three chapters on the years 1830 to 1954, then follows with two long parts, The War 1954 to 1958 and The Hardest of All Victories 1958 to 1962, which hold 22 more chapters. First published in 1977 by Macmillan and Viking, it won the Wolfson Prize in 1978, and later editions carry an updated preface.

James Mattis included it on the list of favorite books in an appendix to Call Sign Chaos.