In 1827 the French consul got into an argument with the ruler of the Regency of Algiers. Three years later the French government invaded what we now know as Algeria; it took until 1847 for the country to officially become part of France, and there were isolated pockets of fighting and conflict that lasted until 1903. In other words, it was a nasty, bloody business.
Somewhere in the middle of all this France decided it would be a great idea to send French folks to Algeria with the promise of free land and a new life. Attacking Earth and Sun is a fictionalized account of how that worked out for everyone. In a nutshell, it went…poorly.
“Passengers disembarking, Algiers, Algeria, ca. 1899” by trialsanderrors is licensed under CC BY 2.0 
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In less than 150 pages Belezi sketches the horrifying outlines of this particular occupation. The narrative alternates between that of Seraphine, one of the hapless colonists who is just starting to realize what a crap bargain she’s accepted, and a platoon of soldiers who speak with one voice about the horrible actions they take on the regular at the request of their brutish captain. These include pillaging towns, raping women, and throwing around tons of insults and sloganeering about how all this horrible behavior is for the Berbers’ and Arabs’ benefit. Over at Seraphine’s camp, there’s cholera, difficult farming conditions, and the constant threat of murder by folks who are less than happy that their country is being stolen from them.
I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it, but I appreciated it. Sometimes a story can convey the magnitude of an issue far better than a history or political theory text ever could. Colonialism is an abstract concept. Seraphine is a woman who loses most of her family to disease and violence. Colonialism in the abstract is something that happens. The captain of the platoon is a specific person who makes specific harmful choices and has specific goals and outcomes for the indigenous Algerians.
It’s a pretty niche novel, definitely not for everybody, but if you’re interested in world history in general, or the French/Algerian conflict in particular, it’s a horrifying little gem of a read.
