Colin Clarke states in the acknowledgements to Decolonizing the Colonial City that his book is the product of more than forty years' research in Jamaica and the wider region. It builds upon his 1975 study, Kingston, Jamaica: Urban Development and Social Change, 1692–1962 (Berkeley: University of California Press), which was based on PhD research conducted during the early 1960s. Clarke has updated his original research in two recently published books, the one under review here and a second book, Kingston, Jamaica: Urban Development and Social Change, 1692–2002 (Kingston: Ian Randle, 2006). Both books can be recommended to students and scholars of Jamaica as together they cover a range of political, social and economic developments in Kingston since the colonial period. The former contains more new material, but the latter is a beautifully produced book containing wonderful photographs of Kingston from the 1960s onwards.

In Decolonizing the Colonial City Clarke concentrates on different elements of Kingston, with a focus on the period following independence in 1962. The book is a rich resource and underscores the value of using the city as a lens through which to explore wider social, cultural and political history. While it focuses on Kingston, it reveals a great deal about wider Jamaican development. The first chapter is a well-written introduction which sets the scene. In particular, the discussion of the expansion of Kingston is fascinating, and the 1702 map (p. 10) vividly highlights the continuity of the downtown area over the last 300 years. The second chapter presents an overview of the urbanisation of the city since Independence. Although there are some interesting facts here, for those who know Kingston few of them are surprising. The contribution of this chapter is to provide concrete data to support the analysis of the changes which many have witnessed over time and of which they have been intuitively aware. In addition, there are some interesting nuggets of information and the photographs of the housing (particularly on pp. 76–7) are a visual marker of the inequalities in the city. The maps contained in Chapters 2–5 are a useful illustration of the data presented, although at times they are difficult to read.

Chapters 3 and 4 on plural stratification and racial segregation revisit and update Clarke's earlier thesis. In his conclusion to Chapter 3, Clarke argues that his evidence highlights the continuing importance of M. G. Smith's cultural pluralism thesis, although the importance of class was underplayed by Smith. Interestingly, Clarke's analysis argues that ‘while colour and race have diminished significantly in importance since independence … Kingston's plural cultures have not waned and, together with class, they remain the bedrock of a highly stratified and spatially polarized social system’ (p. 153). This argument is further pursued in Chapter 4 where discussions revolve around the segregation of the class/race groupings. Clarke's conclusion is that the class structure remains hierarchical and the non-black population remains disproportionately concentrated in the elite strata of society. These discussions might have been strengthened if the author had been more explicit about the use of the terms ‘colour’ and ‘race’. During the course of the book, these two terms are treated as one. It is not clear why both terms are used and some explanation would have been useful.

However, these two chapters provide a wealth of information which is presented in both tabular and map forms. The comparison of the data over time reveals a great deal about the changing nature of census data collection. As Clarke points out, the percentage of the black population rose with the introduction of racial self-identification on the census. In addition, changes in the way in which positions within the class structure are defined from 1960 to 1991 (shown in the tables on pp. 148–9) highlight the development of society since 1960. The material presented in the two chapters will prove extremely useful for scholars in a variety of social science disciplines who may want to analyse the implications of the findings in greater detail.

Chapter 5 focuses on the transition from slum to ghetto and sees Clarke present evidence which confirms the west to east spread of the materially deprived areas of Kingston. It was interesting to read that the term changed from ‘slum’ to ‘ghetto’ from the early 1970s, the point at which political (and other) gangs were becoming active in the downtown region of the city. Chapter 6 on ‘Politics, Violence and Drugs’ and Chapter 7, ‘Decolonization and the Politics of National Culture’, differ from the preceding chapters in that they rely primarily on secondary source material. Chapter 6 draws on a number of useful sources to provide a coherent overview of the relationship between the political parties and drugs. Chapter 7 takes a very different, but relevant, perspective on decolonisation by focusing on the strengthening development of a Jamaican culture. In particular, the section on the importance of reggae and dancehall music as forms of political and cultural expression is fascinating. In the conclusion, Clarke provides a very useful summary of the main argument and expands his analysis by comparing Kingston with Johannesburg and with São Paulo in relation to desegregation (in the case of the former) and violence (for the latter).

In summary, this is a well written, interesting and informative book which convincingly highlights the ways in which a focus on one city since the colonial period can illuminate wider social, political and economic trends and development. This is the strength of the book – as it was with the original study Clarke published in 1975. A possible shortcoming is that, at times, the book seemed to lack coherence: in particular Chapters 6 and 7 might have been better integrated within the overall framework of the text. In addition, a chapter which developed the comparative analysis would have further strengthened the book. However, these are minor comments. I would definitely recommend this book to students and scholars of the Caribbean. It provides both useful data and a clear theoretical perspective that will prove useful and challenging to future researchers, scholars, and students.