SFU History Reads: Algiers, Third World Capital by Elaine Mokhtefi

SFU History Reads is a Public Book Club that discusses timely works of historical interest to bring the study of history to the community.In the 1950s, Elaine Mokhtefi travelled from the U.S. to France and first encountered the community of Algerian activists seeking an end to French imperialism in their homeland. In 1962, she moved to Algiers, the capital of the newly-independent Algerian Republic. By the late 1960s, she began working with the International Section of the Black Panther Party. Over several years, Mokhtefi met many of the figures who flocked to the “Mecca of revolutions” that Algeria had become. Algiers, Third World Capital (Verso Books, 2018) is her fascinating memoir.