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| Correspondence – 1849-1851 |
Pauline de Noirfontaine arrived in Algeria in 1849 and left in 1851. Her analysis of the early days of French colonisation is well-informed and provocative. She challenges the myth of Europeans' superiority, the French claim of honorable intentions in invading Algeria and the possibility to winning the hearts and minds of local populations whilst deploying a ruthless army of occupation. The book comprises six letters addressed to various French socialites. Each deals with a specific aspect of Mme de Noirfontaine's experience and together they cover topics as varied as the life of Arab women, Oran's cholera epidemic, male and female idiosyncratic attitudes to war ... Very much ahead of her time, Mme de Noirfontaine's deep conviction was that in the long run, the wasting of Africa in the name of colonisation would serve no-one.
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