Mogadiscio was not always the sprawling jerry-built urban landscape we see today. Until 1991, when the government fell and clan militias, in a civil war, reduced it to rubble, Mogadiscio was a lovely, vibrant city. Tales of Mogadiscio describes a time, during the 1960s, when Mogadiscio was the capital and center of a newly independent Somali Republic. The stories portray individuals and the city's various communities. Mogadiscio is observed and reflected upon by the author, who lived among its people and loved the city.