Dr. Brower is a historian of modern France and its colonies with a focus on Algeria. His research examines the colonial situation, and its impact on the societies of the colonized and colonizers. His first book, A Desert Named Peace: The Violence of French Empire in the Algerian Sahara, 1844-1902 (2009) tells the story of colonial violence in nineteenth-century Algeria. It was the winner of the Society for French Historical Studies’ David H. Pinkney Prize and the Middle East Studies Association’s Albert Hourani Award. He is working on a second book project entitled “The Colonial Hajj, 1798-1962.” This explores the history of pilgrimage to Mecca and the Holy Places made by Mulisms subject to French colonial rule. His broader research interests include European imperialism, questions of secularism and Islam, and understanding violence in history.