Unbowed: An Algerian Woman Confronts Islamic Fundamentalism

In 1993, a handwritten envelope arrived in Khalida Messaoudi's mailbox. In it was an official communique announcing that she had been condemned to death by the Islamic Salvation Front. This letter came after a series of threats and an attempt on her life in retaliation for her role as a leader of the feminist and democratic movements in Algeria and a fierce opponent of Islamic fundamentalism.

Messaoudi did not flee from this threat by seeking refuge outside her country. Instead, she went int...