The city of Atlanta in the US has endured constant change throughout its history. It has been destroyed and rebuilt several times over, survived slavery and racial segregation to become the cradle of the Civil Rights Movement, and recently recast the state of Georgia as a blue wave in a sea of neighbouring red states. The Makeshift City by Joshua Dudley Greer shows a contemporary Atlanta in a state of flux—both a unique city with a specific history and culture, and a generic American metropolis struggling to forge its identity.