We're Here Because You Were There: Immigration and the End of Empire

Britain's history of state racism against immigrants, from 1948 to 1971, is explored in Ian Sanjay Patel's book, which reveals how British citizenship was redefined along racial lines and exposed the limits of Britain's influence in world politics.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 352 pages
Publication date: 04 October 2022
Publisher: Verso Books

In a powerful and often shocking account of state racism that continues to resonate today, Patel retells Britain's recent history. A series of post-war immigration laws from 1948 to 1971 transformed arrivals from the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa to Britain from citizens to immigrants. In the late 1960s, British officials, drawing upon an imperial vision of the world, sought to contain what they perceived as a vast immigration crisis involving British citizens. As a result, British citizenship itself was redefined along racial lines, fatally compromising the Commonwealth and exposing the limits of Britain's influence in world politics. By combining the voices of so-called immigrants trying to make a home in Britain and the politicians, diplomats, and commentators who were rethinking the nation, Patel excavates the reasons why Britain failed to create a post-imperial national identity.

This book was selected as a BBC History Magazine Book of the Year 2021 and was shortlisted for the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize 2022. It is a crucial and eye-opening exploration of a critical period in British history, shedding light on the ongoing challenges of race, identity, and immigration in the UK.

Dimension: 198 x 129 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781839767999