Berber: References & Edit History

The most comprehensive and up-to-date account of the Berbers is provided by Michael Brett and Elizabeth Fentress, The Berbers (1996). Robert Montagne, The Berbers: Their Social and Political Organisation, trans. by David Seddon (1973; originally published in French, 1931), is a translation of a seminal work of the colonial period with a critical introduction by David Seddon. The criticism is developed in Ernest Gellner, Saints of the Atlas (1969), an equally seminal study. Malika Hachid, Les Premiers Berbères (2000), deals mainly with prehistory and the Classical period; as does Gabriel Camps, Berbères: aux marges de l’histoire (1980), with a look at Islam and anthropology. Camps was the founder of the authoritative Encyclopédie Berbère (in progress).

H.T. Norris, The Berbers in Arabic Literature (1982), deals with the Islamic period. The main source for information on that period is Ibn Khaldūn, Histoire des Berbères et des dynasties musulmanes de l’Afrique septentrionale, 4 vol. (1925, reprinted 1999), trans. from Arabic into French by Baron de Slane; also useful is Ibn Khaldūn, Le Livre des exemples, trans. from Arabic into French by Abdesselam Cheddadi, (2012). Charles André Julien, History of North Africa: Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco: From the Arab Conquest to 1830 (1970, originally published in French, 2nd edition in 2 vols., 1951–52; the 2nd vol. of the 2nd edition rev. and edited by R. Le Tourneau), trans. by John Petrie, ed. by C.C. Stewart, covers the history of the medieval Berber empires by a notable champion of their achievements.

Pierre Bourdieu, Algeria 1960 (1979; originally published in French, 1977), trans. by Richard Nice, contains important essays on honour, women, and the impact of modernization. Bruce Maddy-Weitzman, The Berber Identity Movement and the Challenge to North African States (2011), discusses the modern situation. Jeremy Keenan, The Tuareg: People of Ahaggar, new ed. (2002), studies Berber history and society down to the present.