"This is a brilliant and original reinterpretation of Ibadan's political past, addressing for the first time the question of how the city's civic culture was constituted and how it changed between the mid-nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries.…Watson shows apparently effortless mastery of highly complex data.…A really beautifully crafted and lucidly written book." (Centre for West African Studies, University of Birmingham) "There is far too much texture in Watson's work to do justice to it in this brief review. She skillfully weaves together the social and political contexts of Ibadan's history to highlight just how complex the city's reality was. Also, her deft use of documentary, linguistic, and oral sources reflects a keen grasp of relevant methodologies."