took me a while to get through this, partially bc i was busy and also bc i am lacking a lot of reading comprehension skills (but i am working on it!). it is also dense imo but i think that the immense detail was necessary. this book was a fantastic, in-depth exploration of colonialism, imperialism, gaining independence, and decolonized nations. the only thing that really rubbed me the wrong way was the very first case within the section “colonial war and mental disorders.” it talks about how an Algerian man in the FLN’s wife was raped when she refused to give French soldiers/policemen info about him. the wife ended up telling the Algerian man about this, leading to his impotence and kind of centering himself within the rape, even saying “And did she have to tell me about [the rape]?” although i understand that this was a different time, and this is a description of a person that was treated, not his wife, it was quite unsettling to read his comments and to see such a case presented. regardless, that was a tiny snippet and the book was phenomenal overall.

An interesting read that pulled no punches. I skipped over some of the graphic torture descriptions, I figured I'd got enough to understand the situation without reading things I couldn't help, and the politics I'd mostly understood already but it's always nice to revisit thoughts. I definitely see why this was suggested as a 'must read'.

Turns out my reading comprehension has vastly improved since I was a freshman in college. Who'd have thought! A few main takeaways:
‣Revolutionary violence means not a return to the precolonial "Dark Ages" but a reclamation of the humanity that has been stripped away.
‣In newly independent nations the bourgeoisie may simply take over the role of the oppressor and mimic the control and authority of the colonizers. Poorly-developed nationalism with no emphasis on the essential role of the masses is an empty promise and a recipe for failure.
‣The intellectual pursuit of looking to the precolonial culture of the past is not useful because it often stems from a desire to prove a nation's value and humanity to the colonizer. There is no point in this. New culture is formed in the processes of independence and revolution.