Bloody Foreigners: The Story of Immigration to Britain [Paperback]

You only have to pick up any paper on any day in this country to find some kind of polemic against immigration. Whther it's bogus asylum seekers, official government figures, racial tensions, bureaucratic screw-ups, deportations, there's always bound to be someone, somewhere complaining about immigration to this country.

So reading this book was like a breath of fresh air. Winder traces the roots of immigration to these isles all the way from prehistory onwards, making the point that at some level we are all immigrants; we all bear strains of DNA from Celts, Romans, Picts, Scots, Vikings, Danes, Normans, French, Germans, West Indians, Indians, Chinese, Africans. Institutions we think of as quintessentially British are the brainchildren of immigrants: Rothschilds, Harrods, Marks & Spencers, Tesco, the list goes on.

Winder argues that immigration itself is a self-selecting process: only those with the most education, the most drive and ambition, the most determination and perseverance, are likely to overcome to immense obstacles standing in the way of successfully reaching and settling in Britain. And these kind of people are likely to be an asset to any country, not just this one. Statistics prove that the level of education, the level of professional qualifications held are higher amongst immigrants than they are in the rest of the general population - and yet time after time we see immigrants and asylum-seekers dismissed as lazy, criminal, uneducated. And this is quite apart from the fact that immigrants make up only 4% of the general population - hardly the flood we hear about.

This book isn't all a rant against the anti-immigration brigade. Time and again Winder discusses the seemingly-typical British response to immigration - we will moan and complain and put every obstacle in the path of potential immigrants, but we will let them in anyway. There will be prejudice and racial tension and strife, but there are no pogroms, no massacres, very little violence. We are the most begrudging of friends to the immigrant, Winder argues, but even that is sometimes more than enough.

And in the end, what a compliment, surely? That people from all over the world want to come here, want to come and benefit from our freedoms, our liberty, our openness, our liberalism, our opportunities and culture and education. Those of us who were born here didn't choose our country, our nationality, but isn't it surely a compliment that people choose to be British of all the countries in the world?

Robert Winder's book is a fine attempt to deal with a very complex and potentially troublesome subject. He has a fascinating tale to tell, and he tells it with an excellent narrative style and considerable dexterity.

But for me he somewhat spoils things with irritating, prissy little homilies on, for example, the gracelessness and general curmudgeonliness of the British people (whoever they are!) in relation to foreigners generally and immigrants in particular. He would frankly have been better on many occasions to have told his interesting story and left us to draw the conclusions.

I would also comment that his account of the earlier waves (are we allowed to say "waves"?) of immigration is far more enthralling than of the last fifty years. This is partly, I think, because it will be more unfamiliar territory for most of his readers. But he seems indeed in the last few chapters to fall into the trap of talking mainly about "the numbers", rather than, as in his earlier chapters, of the diversity and individual experiences of immigrants.

All in all, this is a thought-provoking book, and full of highly quotable facts and figures suitable to fill any lapse in the free flow of conversation at the next multicultural dinner party you're invited to, or for when you're stuck for a "bon mot" when standing in the queue at the Chinese chippie.

The issue of immigration tends to polarise opinion and in this well written and superbly researched book, Robert Winder makes us fundamentally question why we regard immigration as an 'issue' in the first place. Largely eschewing the well rehearsed moral arguments that are usually made, Winder focuses on the socio-economic impact of migration into Britain, from the end of the Ice Age to the present day. Throughout the book, Winder combines historical narrative with some well placed anecdotes to develop his thesis that immigration is, and has always been, a force for good. His arguments are generally well balanced, recognising that host countries face some legitimate concerns, and making the point on several occassions that despite some lamentable lapses, Britain has a generally honourable tradition in its dealing with migrants over the centuries - at least in comparative terms. As someone who was not born in the UK but has made it my home, I found the material both refreshing and interesting. Not enough comment, in my view, is made in the popular media of the economic benefits from immigration. Perhaps Robert Winder's book should be 'docu-dramatised' for TV: it may help advance the mainstream debate in the way Simon Schama has reinvigorated popular interest in British history.