"Imprisoned by the photographers eye [these women] reclaim their historicity through the pages of this powerful book. . . . The Colonial Harem deserves a central place in the growing literature of decolonization."

--Village Voice

"Alloula gathers up the impedimenta of empire in the form of (mainly) lewd French postcards of Algerian women which circulated between 1900 and 1930. . . . By displaying and dissecting colonial pornography as an insider he brings into stark relief the violation of the patriarchal gaze at its harshest."

--Women's Review of Books

University of Minnesota Press Web Site, June, 2000

A collection of picture postcards of Algerian women exploited by the French, this "album" illustrates a powerful analysis of the distorting, denigrating effects of their presence on Algerian Society.