This book shows how injustice has affected the black community. Each essay underscores the contradictions and the sad impact of racism on the urban conditions of blacks.

The book is groundbreaking. It is pivotal because many of the most important urban policies, e.g., urban renewal, the war-on-poverty, model cities, have been used in the black community. Unfortunately the policies have enjoyed only a modium of success. Moreover, the planning professional and many of the voices in the academy have continued to deny the significance of this community as well as the contributions of blacks who had an indelible impact as urban and community planners.

The essays are accessible and poignant. While they would certainly need to be discussed in urban planning schools, they should also be of real interest to the general public who would profit from the vital information and sagas described in the book. One of the best planning volumes to be published recently.

A good review of urban planning in Detroit since the end of the Second World War. Although I don't always agree with the author's conclusions (and I admit a bias here, as my father was an urban planner for the City of Detroit during the period covered by the book), she has done an excellent job explaining a complicated and, perhaps, ultimately unmanagable process. Her documentation is excellent. My only complaint, and it is a minor one, is that, although the book is profusely illustrated with sketch maps showing the effects of different programs, it lacks an overall reference map of Detroit and Southeastern Michigan, which puts a reader not familiar with Detroit and it's geography at a distinct disadvantage at times in following the text.