Description:This book is the first in-depth analysis on the evolution of the Tunisian security community from the implementation of French Protectorate in 1881 to the aftermath of independence up to 1965. It is based on unprecedented access to the sources of the Ministry of Interior and the First Ministry during Bourguiba’s regime, and on archives from France, Italy and United Kingdom. It argues that from an apparatus designed to maintain colonial control, this security system evolved into an instrument that, from the onset, was driven by the political agenda of the leader or the ruling elite.