Multicultural Britain: A People's History

Between the end of the Second World War and the early twenty-first century, Britain became multicultural. This vivid book tells that remarkable story. Kieran Connell, an historian of Irish and German heritage who grew up in Balsall Heath, inner-city Bir-mingham, takes readers into multicultural communities across Britain at key moments in their development. Journeying far beyond London, Multicultural Britain ex-plores the messy contradictions of the country's transition into today's diverse society. It reveals the ordinary people who have forged Britain's multiculturalism; skewers public leaders, from Enoch Powell to Harold Wilson to Margaret Thatcher, who have too often weaponized race for their own political ends; and shines a light on the shifting nature of British racism, revealing its enduring day-to-day impact on ethnic-minority groups. Between postcolonial reckonings and immigration anxieties, how people live together in Brexit Britain remains an urgent question for our time. Connell's fresh, thought-provoking book unveils British multiculturalism not as a problematic idea, but as a rich and complex lived reality.

About the Author :
Kieran Connell is a writer and historian based at Queen's University Belfast. His first book, Black Handsworth: Race in 1980s Britain, was shortlisted for the Whitfield Book Prize.

Review :
"Its bursts of color and insights into daily lives of early multicultural societies... [make it] a worthwhile read on a topic that will remain at the heart of public debate in Britain." -- The Irish Times "Compelling ... The book's deep familiarity with these communities allows Connell to bring to light lives that will be entirely new to the reader." -- History Today "A captivating and insightful history ... refreshing" -- Social History "Kieran Connell's vividly compelling book makes an epic subject feel immediate and intimate. Written with verve and passion, it yet casts a cold eye on the large historical forces that are in play. Multicultural Britain: A People's History honours the lives it restores to their proper place in the making of contemporary Britain." -- Fintan O'Toole, author of We Don't Know Ourselves: A Personal History Of Ireland Since 1958 "This book comes at a crucial moment in Britain's history. It redefines not only our past, but assembles the ingredients to construct a possible future from the country's maligned and often misunderstood multicultural reality." -- Johny Pitts, author of Afropean: Notes from Black Europe "Goes behind the net curtains to give a searing view of the lives and struggles of black and Asian immigrants that laid the foundation of present-day British society. From post-war racism to the rhetoric of Nigel Farage, this is a canvas of British history shaped by Empire. The personal and political blend seamlessly. Essential reading." -- Shrabani Basu, author of Victoria & Abdul "An insightful, captivating and engaging book. By focusing on specific cities, from Bradford to Nottingham, Kieran Connell has written a truly innovative history of multiculturalism." -- Ziauddin Sardar, author of Balti Britain "Multicultural Britain is a powerful, compelling, forthright, grounded, and inspiring analysis of how diverse peoples and groups have arrived, settled, adapted, and fundamentally transformed what it means to be British today." -- Professor Tahir Abbas, Leiden University, author of Muslim Britain: Communities under Pressure "I hope [this book] leads to a wider debate about the issues [Connell] raises and discusses." -- The Muslim World Book Review "As well as shifting the focus beyond London, Connell's work is a reminder of the importance of the local contexts in which diasporic encounters took place." -- Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History