- Hardcover: 416 pages
- Publisher: Granta Books; First edition edition (1 Sep 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1862079315
- ISBN-13: 978-1862079311
- Product Dimensions: 23.8 x 15.2 x 4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 125,135 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Balti Britain: A Provocative Journey Through Asian Britain
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"* 'It bounds forth with extraordinary energy and lightness, propelled at all stages by a passion for knowledge and inquiry' Kamila Shamsie on Desperately Seeking Paradise * 'A wonderful book--part history, part autobiography, immensely rich in acute observation of multicultural Britain. A vivid and thoughtful study of what it means to be British today.' John Gray"
Review
'Told with passion, warmth and humanity. This is an erudite and entertaining book'
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Prof Sardar gives an excellent portrayal of life in Britain through the eyes of a British Asian. His personal experiences are often very moving. I had no idea of the complexities of the various groupings within Islam and learned a great deal. His progressive vision of Islam is one that can be embraced by those who share a similar view within their own faith (Christian in my case). Thank you for this book.
1 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought Balti Britain for research into a newspaper piece I'm writing. It is poorly written, which surprises me, as Granta is very selective and normally publishes immaculate stuff. I'm surprised they didn't demand more of the writer. He inserts memoir sections into the book and they're lively and interesting. Then he descends into dullness. The paperback inserts the word "provocative" into the title, which is always a bad sign, but I can see why they did it. It's not a book, more a series of worthy magazine pieces (I suppose, to be fair, that this is Granta's strength.)
The book is basically a series of interviews with male Britons, usually elderly, of South Asian background. No women. Sardar comments on South Asian women briefly near the end of the book, I suspect at the insistence of an editor. He says such women have little to complain of.
Maybe they don't. It would have helped to hear them say this. I swear, if you went by Balti Britain's version, there are no South Asian women in Britain at all. Sardar isn't interested. This reader is.
The section on Balti restaurants is fascinating, though, and gives great insight into what makes them great. But it's not the fascinating comprehensive book it pretends to be.
It's boring. Granta let me down.
The book is basically a series of interviews with male Britons, usually elderly, of South Asian background. No women. Sardar comments on South Asian women briefly near the end of the book, I suspect at the insistence of an editor. He says such women have little to complain of.
Maybe they don't. It would have helped to hear them say this. I swear, if you went by Balti Britain's version, there are no South Asian women in Britain at all. Sardar isn't interested. This reader is.
The section on Balti restaurants is fascinating, though, and gives great insight into what makes them great. But it's not the fascinating comprehensive book it pretends to be.
It's boring. Granta let me down.
2 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A good access to Asians in Britain written with usual wit and knowledge from Sardar
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Biography > Historical > Britain > Social & Urban History
- Books > Biography > Historical > Social & Urban History
- Books > Biography > Medical, Legal & Social Sciences > Anthropology & Sociology
- Books > History > Britain & Ireland
- Books > History > Cultural History
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Anthropology > Social & Cultural
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Multicultural Studies > Black Studies
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Sociology > Family & Social Groups
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
