Across history some of the most creative and fruitful, as well as the most violent, encounters have occurred when civilizations and cultures first have contact with each other. In addition to the short term impact, the biased perception and portrayal of one culture by another create longer-term effects which can have a lasting impact on relations between them. In this enlightening book, scholars from a wide range of intellectual disciplines and regions - history, philosophy, economics, sociology and anthropology - come together to offer their insights into the meeting and portrayal of 'the other', from the seventeenth century Dutch East Indies to present day tourism in Zanzibar. By exploring interpretations, histories and colonial and post-colonial narratives, this book becomes essential reading for anyone interested in the study of culture and society.