-From the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in 1789, through the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, and the European Convention on Human Rights 1950, France has subscribed to the right of an individual to be protected from torture. How, then, did France condone the use of torture in the Algerian War? Maran's well-researched study describes the reasons for torture and the tension that accompanied this change in French ideology. The French mission civilisatrice to Algeria was badly damaged when French national law failed to protect the right to be secure from torture. `For torture to occur, the victim must be seen as subhuman by the torturer.' Torture supported by the French state was rationalized as a regrettably necessary tactic during the Algerian War. Questions of French politics superseded questions of French law. There is not another book on North Africa that addresses the problem of torture from an ideological perspective. In this day of emphasis on human rights throughout the world, Maran's book will be a valuable addition to both undergraduate and graduate libraries. —Choice