A short guide to towns without a past

Best known for his existentialist novel 'The Outsider', set in French-occupied Algeria, Albert Camus was profoundly influenced by the landscapes, towns and traditions of his youth. Selected here are some of his finest personal essays about Algeria and its environs, including the luminous 'Nuptials at Tipasa', one of his earliest works where he developed the themes that would inform his later philosophy - to thrive now, without hope for paradise, as mortal life alone can be worthwhile.