Retired French Diplomat Returns With a Provocative Book on Algeria

Barely a week had passed since the truce between Algeria and Paris was established. Just one day after Benjamin Stora, advisor on memory to the French presidency, warned of the risks of the current calm in Algerian-French relations collapsing due to the presence of a political class opposed to this truce. Former French ambassador to Algeria, Xavier Driencourt, announced a new book dedicated to Algerian-French relations. According to excerpts revealed by the author, the book contains numerous provocative statements against Algeria.

The new book is titled “Algeria from 1830 to 2026… Facts and Myths.” A picture of the cover was posted on his X account on Friday, May 15, 2026, and he indicated that the book would be published on June 4 by the French publishing house Perrin.

It is clear from some excerpts published by Xavier Driencourt that he aims to undermine the progress made in Algerian-French relations in recent weeks. This progress included visits to Algeria by two ministers in Sébastien Lecornu’s government: Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez in February, and Alice Rufo, Minister Delegate to the French Ministry of the Armed Forces. During her participation in the commemorations of the May 8, 1945, massacres in Sétif (east of Algiers), she made statements that were described as encouraging regarding the issue of historical memory, suggesting a move towards overcoming the political and diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

In this book, the retired French diplomat questions whether colonialism constitutes a crime against humanity. He criticised the current French president who responded to this question in 2017 while visiting Algeria as a candidate for his first term as president. A file which is often brought up in political discussions in both Algeria and Paris. However, Macron quickly backtracked on those statements upon his return to Paris, under pressure from the far-right lobby, which had organized protests against him, in which the Pied-Noirs and Harkis participated heavily.

Xavier Driencourt, who served as ambassador to Algeria in two separate stints—first under former President Nicolas Sarkozy (2008-2012) and then under current President Emmanuel Macron (2017-2020)—raised and attempted to answer many loaded questions, such as, “Is Algeria France’s guilty conscience?”

In addition to other questions concerning sensitive topics that conceal much deceit and manipulation, such as “Were the Jews forced into exile and made to leave Algeria after independence? Did General Charles de Gaulle understand Algeria? Were the Harkis sacrificed?” These are issues typically promoted by the far right. He also questions whether “Napoleon III’s Arab kingdom was merely a utopia (a dream).” Given Driencourt’s previous statements and positions on Algeria and his country’s perceived historical role there, the content of this book is no different from his earlier works, which followed a one-sided approach, amounting to a series of provocations.

The author also revealed other themes in the book’s introduction, relating to the figure of Emir Abdelkader, the founder of the modern Algerian state. There is also another seemingly intellectual question intended to lull readers into complacency, concerning the role of the National Liberation Front (FLN) in the war of independence. Whether the war began in Sétif? This is a clear reference to the massacres of May 8, 1945.

The cover image of the new book by the diplomat obsessed with all things Algerian reveals the author’s clear and premeditated ill intentions. It depicts old, crowded buildings in the capital, Algiers, their beauty lost due to the flaking paint of time. The publisher presented Xavier Driencourt as the “key witness” to relations with Algeria, which he falsely claims have been “mired in an endless crisis.”

“Algeria from 1830 to 2026: Facts and Myths” is the third book by this retired French diplomat in the two years since the crisis reached its peak. It follows “The Algerian Enigma: Chronicles of an Embassy in Algiers: 2008-2012, 2017-2020″ and “France-Algeria: Double Blindness,” material that right-wing and far-right circles in France have used as a basis for attacking Algeria through media outlets in Paris.

For many weeks, the retired diplomat maintained a suspicious silence, but this time he has returned to the forefront with a new book about Algeria, which is likely to be a rich source of material for French television channels. This will ignite the French presidential scene with discussions about Algeria that could poison bilateral relations again.