{"product_id":"empire-and-catastrophe-9781496219633","title":"Empire and Catastrophe","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eEmpire and Catastrophe \u003c\/i\u003eexamines natural and anthropogenic disasters during the years of decolonization in Algeria, Morocco, and France and explores how environmental catastrophes both shaped and were shaped by struggles over the dissolution of France’s empire in North Africa. Four disasters make up the core of the book: the 1954 earthquake in Algeria’s Chélif Valley, just weeks before the onset of the Algerian Revolution; a mass poisoning in Morocco in 1959 caused by toxic substances from an American military base; the 1959 Malpasset Dam collapse in Fréjus, France, which devastated the town’s Algerian immigrant community but which was blamed on Algerian sabotage; and the 1960 earthquake in Agadir, Morocco, which set off a public relations war between the United States, France, and the Soviet Union and which ignited a Moroccan national debate over modernity, identity, architecture, and urban planning.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Interrogating distinctions between \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"With a detailed view of debates about reconstruction, architecture, and urban planning, Segalla discusses the continuing effects of colonialism and decolonization on contemporary patterns of environmental modification and utilization and examines the role of disasters in enhancing the centralized power and hegemonic objectives of authoritarian states. His outstanding research is also noteworthy for its illuminating use of literary materials and memoirs in the reconstruction of lived experiences.\"—B. Tavakolian, \u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This work is a unique take on the major events of revolution and the creation of the post‐colonial world in North Africa. While grounded in archival work, it takes flight in the literary analysis of contemporary sources that touch on the events. As such it is a fascinating read.\"—Gregory H. Maddox, H-Africa\u003cbr\u003e“Richly sourced and persuasively argued, \u003ci\u003eEmpire and Catastrophe\u003c\/i\u003e weaves together metropolitan and imperial narratives. . . . The book’s intellectual rigor is matched only by the clarity of its prose.”—Christopher M. Church, author of \u003ci\u003eParadise Destroyed: Catastrophe and Citizenship in the French Caribbean\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Similar to Edward Simpson’s \u003ci\u003ePolitical Biography of an Earthquake: Aftermath and Amnesia in Gujarat, India\u003c\/i\u003e, Spencer Segalla’s brilliant book offers an innovative fusion of political, cultural, and environmental history to examine decolonization and the creation of postcolonial Algeria, Morocco, and France.”—Michael G. Vann, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Great Hanoi Rat Hunt: Empire, Disease, and Modernity in French Colonial Vietnam\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Engagingly written and richly sourced, \u003ci\u003eEmpire and Catastrophe\u003c\/i\u003e is an important contribution to our understanding of the broader ecosystem of empire. Looking at a series of local disasters across the space of French imperialism, Segalla evokes the ways catastrophe and decolonization shaped, and continue to shape, each other.”—Brock Cutler, author of \u003ci\u003eEcologies of Imperialism in Algeria\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgments\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 1. Introduction\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 2. Algeria, 1954\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 3. Fréjus 1959, under Water and at War\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 4. Poison, Paralysis, and the United States in Morocco, 1959\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 5. Death, Diplomacy, and Reconstruction in Agadir, 1960\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 6. The Soul of a City\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 7. Rupture, Nostalgia, and Representation\u003cbr\u003e Chapter 8. Conclusion: Humanity and Environment\u003cbr\u003e Notes\u003cbr\u003e Bibliography\u003cbr\u003e Index","brand":"University of Nebraska Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49409230504279,"sku":"9781496219633","price":48.6,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781496219633.jpg?v=1730506057","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/empire-and-catastrophe-9781496219633","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}