The first goal is to counter the common opinion that the first Francophone Algerian novel appeared in 1950, by tracing the genre back to 1908. Salhi (north African and middle eastern studies, U. of Leeds) then examines various and major themes as they appear in the novels published between 1908 and 1962, and argues that the early novels are not only legitimate ancestors of those published in the 1950s, but are also an important and compulsory phase in the development of the Francophone Algerian novel that parallels the development of the Algerian national consciousness exemplified by Ferhat Abbas. The text is double spaced. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)