Noted author, and at the time U.P. correspondent, Samuel Dashiell Hammett, writes of his experiences in Algiers for a few months prior to and just after Pearl Harbor, following which he was expelled. Vivid descriptions of the city, its native quarter, the Kasbah, "Hotel Alettl" (the Nazi clearing house), its peoples, Arabs and Europeans and Jews and secret agents. Includes an interview with Weygand; an evaluation of the Vichy situation and Darian; a vindication of the U.S. politico-diplomatic negotiations, that famous straddle which enabled the Americans to take over as liberators.