"[Achieves] a valuable contribution to the study of political discourse, violence, and the organization of space and social relationships in Zanzibar. More generally... provide[s] interesting discussions of colonialism, power, identity politics and the ideology of modernization." —Africa "This is a welcome and well-written addition to the growing academic literature on the planning history of African cities." —Planning Perrspectives "Contributes to the growing body of work in African urban history and to the study of Zanzibar.... Bissell writes beautifully and makes very good use of his archival research." —Garth Myers, University of Kansas "Bissell has provided an interesting and informative book that links urban policy in Zanzibar to broader currents in urban planning. He provides a detailed analysis of colonial bureaucracy at work, highlighting the indeterminacy caused in part by the shuffling of personnel." —American Historical Review "Bissell... has pored over a multitude of archival sources to construct a very thorough, well evidenced central argurment." —Journal of Historical Geography "Bissell’s book... contributes significantly to our understanding of colonial power and its relationship to the planned and built environment." —Intl Journal of Middle East Studies