Synopses & Reviews
In this new, groundbreaking book, Rozina Visram offers an extensively researched, comprehensive study of Asians from the Indian subcontinent in Britain. Spanning four centuries, it tells the history of the Indian community in Britain from the servants, ayahs and sailors of the seventeenth century, to the students, princes, soldiers, professionals and entrepreneurs of the 19th and 20th centuries. Drawing on primary resources and recently declassified government documents, Visram examines the nature and pattern of Asian migration; official attitudes to Asian settlement; the reactions and perceptions of the British people; the responses of the Asians themselves and their social, cultural and political lives in Britain. This imaginative and detailed investigation asks what it would have been like for Asians to live in Britain, in the heart of an imperial metropolis, and documents the anti-colonial struggle by Asians and their allies in the UK. It is an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the origins of the many different communities that make up contemporary Britain.
Review
'Rozina Visram's excellent book does for Asians what Peter Fryer achieved for African Caribbeans in his groundbreaking book, Staying Power.' --Socialist Review 'An exceptional introduction to Asian legacy and heritage in Britian' --Muslim News Praise for Rozina Visrams previous pioneering study, Ayahs, Lascars and Princes: 'A lively- and timely- survey of British Indian history.' --Salman Rushdie 'Rozina Visrams excellent book does a great deal to explain how the idea of white supremacy lingers.' --Hanif Kureishi 'Scholarly, succinct and gripping to read.' --Dilip Hiro, TLS
Synopsis
This is a comprehensive history of Asians from the Indian subcontinent in Britain. Spanning four centuries, it tells the history of the Indian community in Britain from the servants, ayahs and sailors of the seventeenth century, to the students, princes, soldiers, professionals and entrepreneurs of the 19th and 20th centuries. Rozina Visram examines the nature and pattern of Asian migration; official attitudes to Asian settlement; the reactions and perceptions of the British people; the responses of the Asians themselves and their social, cultural and political lives in Britain. This imaginative and detailed investigation asks what it would have been like for Asians to live in Britain, in the heart of an imperial metropolis, and documents the anti-colonial struggle by Asians and their allies in the UK. It is an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the origins of the many different communities that make up contemporary Britain.
Synopsis
A groundbreaking, comprehensive history of Asian settlement in Britain from 1700 to the present day.
Synopsis
A groundbreaking, comprehensive history of Asian settlement in Britain from 1700 to the present day. 'Fascinating' --BBC History Magazine
About the Author
Rozina Visram is an independent scholar working on multiculturalism and education. She is the author of Ayahs, Lascars and Princes (Pluto Press, 1986).
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
1. A Long Presence
2. Early Arrivals: 1600-1830s
3. A Community in the Making: 1830s-1914
4. Through Indian Eyes: Travellers' Perceptions of Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries
5. Parliamentarians, Revolutionaries and Suffragettes
6. Indians in the First World War
7. Citizens or Aliens? Racism, Repatriation and Passport Control
8. Lascar Activism in Britain 1920-1945
9. Asians in Britain 1919-1947
10. Radical Voices
11. Contributions in the Secon