... an outstanding piece of scholarship, constructed with the art of a storyteller, its complex and many-layered text weaving together changing Ga values, institutions and perception within the context of the colonial city of Accra... . Scholars of early colonial Africa and the period of transition to colonial rule, as well as those interested in the processes of urbanisation and cultural innovation, will find this a worthy addition to the library, as will any historian or social scientist who likes a well crafted and erudite text. The complexities of Ga socio-polity are intimidating, but Parker does fashion his tale into a good read. I warmly recommend it.

• Making the town; state and society in pre-colonial Accra; defending the town - warfare, wealth and civic virtue, 1866-74; law, slavery and colonial rule, 1874-1880; law, slavery and colonial rule, 1874-1880; God's palaver - religion and politics, 18602-1920s; remaking the town - struggles for the colonial city.