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the ‘Oriental seductress’, involving the practice of incest and lesbianism, and the use of morphine and opium, Rafanelli defends the Muslim family structure, including polygamy and the harem, in conjunction with a critique of Western femininity paradoxically in line with the fascist idea of healthy maternity. Spackman’s argument of cross-cultural dressing finds its contemporary relevance in the Epilogue, where she deals with Algerian-Italian writer Amara Lakhous’ Divorce Islamic Style (2010). This time it is the Sicilian-Italian Christian – a graduate of Arabic Studies at Palermo University – who turns Muslim and infiltrates ‘Little Cairo’ in Rome as part of the War on Terror, which allows Spackman to draw a conclusive consideration of the legacies of identity crossing and prejudice in Italy (i.e. the Sicilian Mafioso, Albanian thief, Muslim terrorist). Spackman’s book is well-researched, theoretically grounded and develops an intriguing picture of Orientalism that highlights its multiplicities and contradictions, while addressing the lability of modern and contemporary Italian identity through the lens of transnationalism. As such, Accidental Orientalists is an important read for scholars and students of Italian studies, and mobility and postcolonial studies.