Universityof Pennsylvania - Roger Allen
[I]n every conceivable way a pioneering piece of research, one that is based on an enormous amount of digging in newspaper archives, and demanding the patience of Job in confronting any number of administrative hurdles and outright impediments. The resulting text is a triumph, one that combines a detailed account of the social contexts and profound changes in Moroccan society over the past half century with a series of astute analyses of examples of the sub-genre of police fiction. . . . Combining an analysis of the gradual liberalization of Moroccan government policy toward the press and publicity with astute discussions of reportage and fictional narratives both in print and on television, Smolin not only shows his critical acumen as a literature scholar but also offers a unique picture of social change in Morocco.
Universityof Arizona - Aomar Boum
A very timely and well-framed book . . . opens up a new frontier of research in the domain of media and state. . . . fluid and successful in analyzing one of the most powerful institutions in the country since independence even without being able to enter its secret forts.
Universityof Houston - Hosam Aboul-Ela
Manifest[s] years of painstaking research that come to fruition at a time when its topic—cultures and practices of policing in the Arab world—could not be more urgent for students, scholars, and commentators. . . . Smolin fashions a new critical approach to the question of authoritarianism in the Arabic-speaking region.
