Bloody Foreigners

I don’t know why this doesn’t have more reviews. Possibly because there’s no ebook or audio version of it (which there really, really should be). This is a fascinating read. It’s engaging and easy to get lost in. An ambitious book, for sure, but it DELIVERS. And you don’t have to be a scholar to enjoy it—it’s written in such a way that it can be enjoyed both by the scholarly readers and by a more laidback audience. Read it. You’ll love it.

BLOODY FOREIGNERS has an ambitious scope; to tell the story of immigration to Britain from medieval times to the present day. The story is not a pleasant one: what emerges most tangibly from the narrative is the ways in which the imiigrant has been treated as an interloper, a potential 'threat' to established ways of life. Forget the fact that the English as a whole are a composite nation with German, Latin, Saxon, Indian and American roots; they have often seen themselves in essentialist terms as a nation 'standing alone.' This has often proved difficult for immigrants, even those such as the African-Caribbeans, the Indians and (more latterly), those from East Africa, who have been invited in to fill the jobs not filled by native English workers. Sometimes Winder's tale appears to neglect the positive elements; today's Britain is a vibrantly multicultural nation, in which identities are difficult to (re-)construct in binarist or other terms. But nonetheless he should be admired for his efforts in creating such a consistently entertaining piece of work.