Release date is 2025-11-03

Galo Flordelis (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/University of California Libraries)

"The life of Abdel Kader, ex-sultan of the Arabs of Algeria" by Churchill is a historical biography written in the mid-19th century. It charts the formation of Abdel Kader’s character and faith, his leadership of a fractured Algeria, and his principled resistance to French expansion, compiled from his own dictation and other contemporary sources.

The opening of the book dedicates the work to Napoleon III, then outlines the author’s personal meetings and daily interviews with Abdel Kader in the 1850s, the sources consulted, and the aim to preserve a heroic life from oblivion. It then sketches Abdel Kader’s youth: his father’s guiding influence, early scholarship in the Koran, athletic prowess, strict morals, marriage, and pilgrimages to Mecca, Damascus, and Baghdad before a studious seclusion at home. With the French capture of Algiers, the narrative turns to turmoil in Oran, failed reliance on the Sultan of Morocco, and Abdel Kader’s sudden elevation at Mascara in 1832, where he summons the Djehad and issues a program of order and justice. Early campaigns around Oran display his courage and organization, his seizure of Tlemsen’s town (not its citadel), a failed assault on Mostaganem, and stern enforcement of discipline, even against collaborators. French vacillation leads to negotiations after sharp skirmishes, producing the Treaty of Desmichels, which Abdel Kader interprets to secure a trade monopoly at Arzew and to confine French garrisons. At the start of the ensuing peace he levies war taxes, faces a brief revolt and a setback against Mustapha-ibn-Ismail, then rapidly rallies loyal tribes as the section closes with renewed maneuvering and French attempts to manage the province through native intermediaries. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Originally published: London: Chapman and Hall, 1867