ssential - minimal descriptions of settings, clear evocations of psychological states - which produce a stark atmosphere and perfectly accentuates his subject matter. Though short, the sentences are not choppy. Instead, they provide a fluid rhythm that propels the reader, which is perhaps why he is still one of the best selling authors in France today (Lottman 37).
             The racism in Algeria goes centuries back. The earliest known inhabitants were the Berbers, who became established across the north about the 3rd century B.C., Numidia, as the Berber kingdom was called, came under attack from the Carthaginians and later the Romans. Roman rule ended when Vandals from Spain swept across the country in A.D.431. In the following century, the area was partly conquered by the Byzantines. Successive waves of Arabs wept over the country in the 7th century and introduced the Islamic religion and the Arabic language. Islam soon became dominant but the Berber language survived mainly in the mountains in the east of the country. From 1519, the Ottoman Turks held the coastlands, but their control was, at best, weak.
             In 1830, on the pretext that the coastline was a haven for pirates - it was - French troops invaded the in 1831, country, and in 1831, the French Foreign Legion was formed. Decades of fighting against the Arabs and Berber tribesmen followed. Most of the country was subdued by the early 1870s, through it was not until 1
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