The Rif War
As Spain and France moved into Morocco, the people of the Rif Mountains united to form a new state. For five years they fought one of the most successful wars of resistance in imperial history.
North Africa
The Coffee Poets of 16th-Century Islam
The early modern Islamic world was embroiled in a bitter controversy over coffee. Much ink was spilt by poets on both sides.
Saint Augustine: An African in the City of God
Saint Augustine was educated for a Roman world, but it was his time in North Africa that shaped his identity, his faith, and Christianity itself.
The Islamic Ethics of the Wine Tax
The wine trade in medieval Tunis was lucrative, but it caused a moral quandary for the ruling Hafsids.
What Do We Get Wrong About the Byzantine Empire?
Four historians evaluate perceptions of Rome’s eastern successor beyond the piety, icons, bureaucracy and gold of Byzantium.
Sand War: The Cold War in North Africa
In 1963 a border dispute between Morocco and Algeria escalated into the Sand War. What began as an ideological difference between two newly independent nations soon became personal.
Under the Influence
Alcohol was part of daily life in the colonial Maghreb. In 1913 the French banned alcohol in Tunisia, revealing a deep distrust of local drinks and their Jewish and Muslim makers.
The End of the French Empire in North Africa
Signed at the height of the Second World War, the Atlantic Charter set out the terms for the decolonisation of French North Africa.
The Life and Death of North Africa’s First Superstar
The career of Tunisian singer Habiba Messika was cut tragically short in 1930. Her murder devastated her fans, but in its aftermath her records spread across the French-occupied Maghreb, fanning the flames of insurgent nationalism.
Spain’s Disaster at Djerba
Spain’s disastrous attempt to oust the Ottomans from North Africa threatened to accelerate the westward advance of Suleiman the Magnificent.