"This is a great book. 'Gregory has written a book entwiningglobal geography with social danger. The Colonial Presenttakes us through the contemporary wars in Afghanistan, thePalestinian territories and Iraq as connected projects of imperialambition... The Colonial Present is a refreshingly angrybook, with all the geographical and historical scholarship tobuttress its indictment of American, Israeli and British behavioraround the world. It is exquisitely written... This book'sscreaming truths are must-read heresy."
Neil Smith, Los Angeles Times
"An impassioned plea by one of the world's most eminentgeographers to displace the distorted imaginative geographies thathave so corrupted our representations of the Islamic world
with ageographical imagination that enlarges and enhances ourunderstandings. The long historical geography of the colonialencounter in the Middle East is here laid bare in all its twisteddetail in order to comprehend the fractures underpinningcontemporary political impasses in Palestine, Afghanistan, andIraq. The Colonial Present is a 'must read' forall those concerned for peace and justice in our time."
David Harvey, author of The New Imperialism
"The originality and profundity of Derek Gregory's TheColonial Present puts it at the top of my list."
Richard Falk, Albert G. Milbank Professor Emeritus ofInternational Law and Practice at Princeton; author most recentlyof The Great Terror War (2003)
"Brilliantly condenses the multiple geographies ofcolonialism ... so that their contemporary entanglements with theflexings of modern imperial power crackle with intensity. UsingSeptember 11 2001 as a political fulcrum, Gregory traces thesearing effects of fluid but durable cartographies of violence inthe intersecting wars in Afghanistan, Palestine, andIraq."
Cindi Katz, Graduate Centre, CityUniversityof New York
"Powerfully and persuasively argued. Passionately written.A daring, brilliant analysis ... Quite simply the mostsignificant book written by a geographer in some time."
Allan Pred, University ofCalifornia, Berkeley
"The Colonial Present marshals concepts ofimaginative geography and insight from the spatialisation ofcultural and social theory developed in the past thirty years... An impassioned but theoretically rich critique of the'war on terror' and the wider Zeitgeist that it shapesand embodies ... Crucially, the book is a compelling critiqueof and American Empire ... This is a significant book ...Vintage Gregory again; enticing and provoking his audience ...There is no doubting that The Colonial Present sets bothstandards and agendas."
Environment and Planning D
"The Colonial Present is an important and politicllyengaged book."
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