Mélanie Torrent’s Algerian Independence and the British Left examines the relation between the British left and the Algerian War of Independence during the 1950s and 1960s. Part of what Torrent does is to identify the role of the British left in Algerian independence. She highlights the Movement for Colonial Freedom’s (MCF) support for Algerian nationalism and self-determination, for example, left-leaning politicians and activists’ organisation of and participation in conferences which discussed the war (89; 195), their organisation of and participation in demonstrations related to the war (303; 435), some Labour MPs’ support for Algerian politicians’ visa applications (267; 433), and many on the left’s denunciation of French policy in Algeria, including concerning the use of torture, the plight of refugees, and nuclear testing in the Sahara (Chapters Six and Nine).Footnote ¹

At the same time, Torrent is careful not to overstate the role of the British left in Algerian independence, discussing not only many other actors, but also the many divisions within the British left regarding Algeria, the limits of anti-colonialism in British society—including on the left (130–31; 285–86; Chapter Nine)—the British government’s staunch public support for France (278; 379; 406), and the Labour Party’s own “wobbly” colonial record (360; 508; 516). Torrent also underscores that the support for Algerian independence on the British left did not equate to support for Algeria’s biggest nationalist party, the National Liberation Front or FLN, among all independence supporters nor until well into the war (184–92).

However, more than this, at its heart, I would argue, the book centres on the war and resistance’s transnational dimensions, which an exploration of the role of the British left illuminates in ways relevant to that focus. Firstly, the book shows that the British left’s engagement with the war connected specific events and concerns across borders. Torrent provides insight into how and why many on the British left regarded the war as tarnishing socialism, (further) damaging the West’s relationships with African, Asian, and Middle Eastern states, and jeopardising French democracy. Many on the British left worried that the French Section of the Workers’ International’s (SFIO) involvement in French governments that denied rights and freedoms in Algeria, and that prosecuted a war which involved torture, betrayed the fundamental principles of internationalism and equality that socialism was supposed to embody (Chapters Three, Four, Six, and Seven). SFIO policy was also regarded as negating the impact of Labour’s protests against Soviet repression in Eastern Europe (132; 143). Others feared that the Algerian War, which involved a NATO contribution and incentivised neo-colonial intervention such as at Suez, further endangered the West’s reputation in a decolonising world to the West’s detriment and the Soviet Union and China’s benefit (Chapters Four and Ten). Quoting an Observer article from May 1957, Torrent further underscores that many on the left regarded the war as “a cancer on the body politic of France” (247), which caused political upheaval, pushed France to the right and away from its revolutionary principles (259–60), and threatened French democracy (Chapter Seven).

Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, given the centrality of the FLN to Algerian independence, the book explores the FLN’s internationalisation strategy within its analysis of the role of the British left. From the mid-1950s, FLN representatives in London, including Noureddine Djoudi, Mohamed Messaoud Kellou, and Aziz Hacène (known as Gany or Ghany), nurtured contacts with sympathetic leaders on the left and British civil society groups, such as the Arab Students’ Union (ASU), distributed FLN literature and circulars in Britain, set up FLN offices, and met with politicians, other leaders, and members of the public to try to influence British opinion and policy (see especially Chapters Three through Eleven).

Torrent’s book is meticulously researched and expertly crafted. It flows chronologically over thirteen chapters from postwar Britain to the decade following Algeria’s independence. Torrent draws on a vast range of sources from archives in Britain, France, and the Netherlands, online archives, edited collections of primary sources, magazines, newspapers, periodicals, manuscripts, diaries, memoirs, and interviews in addition to secondary literature. The book contains rich detail from start to finish, illuminating the actions and perspectives of the British left in nuance and complexity, covering the Labour Party (left, right, and centre), the MCF, other anticolonial organisations, left-leaning publications, student societies, trade unions, and pacifist movements, among many other individuals, organisations and initiatives.

Some of Torrent’s emphases align with those of earlier works on the British left, such as Stephen Howe’s Anticolonialism in British Politics, including in their desire not to overstate the impact of the British left during decolonisation.Footnote ² Yet, in addition to Torrent’s many original insights, her book is unique in its focus on Algeria. Torrent’s work also aligns with Matthew Connelly’s on the Algerian War in global perspective, and the FLN’s internationalisation strategy.Footnote ³ It differs in its approach to world dynamics, including internationalisation, which filters through an examination of the British left, yielding new understandings. Algerian Independence and the British Left provides essential insights not only into the Algerian War of Independence and the British left, but also the transnational, interconnected, multi-causal nature of mid-twentieth-century decolonisation processes that have shaped the modern world.