Ottoman Algeria in Western Diplomatic History with ... - Bibliothèque

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to thank my supervisor Dr Brahim Harouni for his insightful
and invaluable remarks as well as his patience which proved to be very decisive for
this work. Without his wise advice, unwavering support, and encouragement
throughout the two last decades of my research life this humble work would have
never been completed. However, this statement is not a way to elude responsibility for
the final product. I alone am responsible for any errors or shortcomings that the reader
may find.
Financial support made the completion of this project easier in many ways. I would
like to express my gratitude for Larbi Ben M’Hidi University, OEB with special
thanks for Pr Ahmed Bouras and Dr El-Eulmi Laraoui. Dr El-Mekki El-Eulmi proved
to be an encyclopedia that was worth referring to whenever others failed. Mr. Aakabi
Belkacem is laudable for his logistical help and kindness. My home Mentouri
University, Constantine deserves no less recognition and tribute.
I would like also to thank the Fondation des Sciences de l’Homme at Paris, France for
its accommodating and supportive environment. I am especially indebted to Pr
Maurice Aymard who provided administrative support and intellectual debate during
occasional research meetings over the past three years. Without that I would not have
been able to fully develop some of the most important points of this work. No words
can appropriately thank Mrs. Brigitte Dufeutrelle whose steady follow up throughout
the preparation of this work made its accomplishment possible. The succinct
criticisms and insights provided by Pr Pierre Melandri from the Fondation Nationale
des Sciences Politiques, Paris are greatly appreciated. Special thanks go to the staff of
the libraries FMSH, FNSP, and BULAC at Paris, France.
Initially, a Fulbright Program scholarship made the actual research work an
envisageable project. Acknowledgments are due to the officers of the National
Archives Record Administration at Washington, D. C. and College Park, Maryland
and to the officers of the Library of Congress in Washington, D. C., USA who
introduced me to the file systems of NARA and LOC and made historical research in
early Algerian-American relations an agreeable task for me. To my advisor diplomatic
historian Pr. Wayne S. Cole, Professor Emeritus at the University of Maryland at
College Park, MD I would like to express my gratitude and respect. He made the
study of diplomatic history an even more enjoyable matter and provided some of the
published material used in this work from his personal library. I am particularly
grateful to my former roommate Mrs. Pamela P. Rittenhaus who made the sight of the
flag of Rais Hamidou at the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD possible for me.
Perhaps, was it the sight of that trophy flag which inspired the idea of this thesis?
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