![Time to Emigrate? [NEW UPDATED EDITION 50 NEW PAGES]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/518f5w6rkUL._SL75_.jpg)
- Hardcover: 240 pages
- Publisher: Gibson Square Books Ltd (9 Nov 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1903933935
- ISBN-13: 978-1903933930
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 2.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 505,336 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Daily Mail
'Unashamedly contentious.'
Independent
`Catches the Zeitgeist.'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
46 of 47 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Ex Tory MP George Walden like writing letters. Which is a good thing too, since he currently does it for the Times Literary Supplement.
But even the most dedicated correspondent would be daunted by the thought of writing a 200 page letter - but that's exactly what Walden did, during a brief holiday he spent in France. You can discover just what he had to say in Time to Emigrate?
Walden was scribbling to his son, who'd just dropped the bombshell that he and his wife were thinking of emigrating. Their young son had been viciously beaten by a thug just yards from their front door. As the boy emerged from his coma, his thankful parents started to wonder just how safe their "safe" part of North London truly was.
George's letter starts off as a candid response to that suggestion - but evolves into a critical and pessimistic appraisal of modern Britain - and exactly where it's going.
Response to Time to Emigrate? has varied wildly. Some people think it's splendid stuff. Other people have labelled it a bitter rant by a bigoted old Tory. I don't think either of those views are even close to the truth. Walden's letter is just that - a letter he wrote to his son. There's no political manifesto here. The book's puffed-up pomposity is softened by some genuine introspection from George Walden. Unlike many other extended editorials, you genuinely get the feeling that Walden didn't quite know which side of the fence he'd end up on when he started writing Time to Emigrate? I think that's why there's a question mark at the end of the title.
The major controversy of the book concerns the target for most of Walden's criticism. Immigrants. Not the immigrants themselves - Walden's book is forthright about his views, but never crosses into racism. It's more critical about the long term effects immigration is having on our small little island. It's not the immigrants he has a problem with. It's the establishment that is letting them in in such enormous numbers.
He compares it to the alcoholic's "elephant in the living room." A big, enormous thing that everybody pretends not to notice. Political correctness has stifled any real discussion of the issues - issues that deeply effect the British economy and led to events like 7/7's devastating suicide bombings.
I won't tell you where George Walden takes the book. It's worth the afternoon or so it'll take you to read it to reach your own conclusion. One thing's for sure. You'll be wondering about the emigration question by the time you've finished it.
Is it a masterpiece? Far from it. George Walden's 'book' is just an extended letter and for that reason, many will find it opinionated and rambling. Not all of his 'facts' are entirely accurate. But that's actually part of the book's charm. What you're reading is nothing more than a loving father's genuine advice and opinion to his son. He approaches the emigration question with no previous agenda - and that makes the conclusion he reaches just that bit more compelling.
But even the most dedicated correspondent would be daunted by the thought of writing a 200 page letter - but that's exactly what Walden did, during a brief holiday he spent in France. You can discover just what he had to say in Time to Emigrate?
Walden was scribbling to his son, who'd just dropped the bombshell that he and his wife were thinking of emigrating. Their young son had been viciously beaten by a thug just yards from their front door. As the boy emerged from his coma, his thankful parents started to wonder just how safe their "safe" part of North London truly was.
George's letter starts off as a candid response to that suggestion - but evolves into a critical and pessimistic appraisal of modern Britain - and exactly where it's going.
Response to Time to Emigrate? has varied wildly. Some people think it's splendid stuff. Other people have labelled it a bitter rant by a bigoted old Tory. I don't think either of those views are even close to the truth. Walden's letter is just that - a letter he wrote to his son. There's no political manifesto here. The book's puffed-up pomposity is softened by some genuine introspection from George Walden. Unlike many other extended editorials, you genuinely get the feeling that Walden didn't quite know which side of the fence he'd end up on when he started writing Time to Emigrate? I think that's why there's a question mark at the end of the title.
The major controversy of the book concerns the target for most of Walden's criticism. Immigrants. Not the immigrants themselves - Walden's book is forthright about his views, but never crosses into racism. It's more critical about the long term effects immigration is having on our small little island. It's not the immigrants he has a problem with. It's the establishment that is letting them in in such enormous numbers.
He compares it to the alcoholic's "elephant in the living room." A big, enormous thing that everybody pretends not to notice. Political correctness has stifled any real discussion of the issues - issues that deeply effect the British economy and led to events like 7/7's devastating suicide bombings.
I won't tell you where George Walden takes the book. It's worth the afternoon or so it'll take you to read it to reach your own conclusion. One thing's for sure. You'll be wondering about the emigration question by the time you've finished it.
Is it a masterpiece? Far from it. George Walden's 'book' is just an extended letter and for that reason, many will find it opinionated and rambling. Not all of his 'facts' are entirely accurate. But that's actually part of the book's charm. What you're reading is nothing more than a loving father's genuine advice and opinion to his son. He approaches the emigration question with no previous agenda - and that makes the conclusion he reaches just that bit more compelling.
40 of 44 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Time to Emigrate? Is not a measured argument for or against leaving Britain. This is an emotional lament by a writer who is saddened by the way his country has changed, largely, for the worse. The underlying energy of the writing is unquestionably angry. But the tone is `post Christmas dinner' avuncular where the sherry proceeds to let out all the disgraceful family secrets in a gentle, opinionated and straightforward manner. It is the heartfelt nature of the advice, observations and opinions that make reading this book akin to overhearing an outrageously candid, politically incorrect and immensely entertaining conversation on a topic of deadly seriousness.
My only complaint is that the pace slows down towards the end of the book as the complexity of the issue is overwhelmed by the writer's obvious personal wish that his son not leave. For that same reason, the book does not come to a simple conclusion. Perhaps this is correct as the decision is, ultimately, a personal one but with thousands of UK nationals leaving daily, this book is certainly food for thought.
My only complaint is that the pace slows down towards the end of the book as the complexity of the issue is overwhelmed by the writer's obvious personal wish that his son not leave. For that same reason, the book does not come to a simple conclusion. Perhaps this is correct as the decision is, ultimately, a personal one but with thousands of UK nationals leaving daily, this book is certainly food for thought.
31 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I clicked 5 stars and it says somewhere that this means that I love the book. I am not sure love is the right word for what one feels about a chillingly lucid summary of the state of Britain today, setting out painful and mostly unspoken truths. In any case, I could not put it down. I see several columnists were inspired by the issues raised by Walden; I hope they will also comment on it. We tend to see the world as it appeared to us yesterday - which is why this work is so significant. It helps its readers to catch up with the present.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Truth People Should Read
I really enjoyed this book, although I am aware of the pitfalls of modern UK life, this book brought a new perspective to my opinions. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Mr. D. A. Thornton
A righteous rant
He's right, of course, immigration has been very badly handled and the result is that Britain is seriously changed and much that was good has been lost. Read more
Published on 10 Mar 2010 by Fred
A monotonous ramble.
I was passed a copy by someone who said it was interesting.
I found it anything but.
It was written as an imaginary letter to an imaginary son. Read more
I found it anything but.
It was written as an imaginary letter to an imaginary son. Read more
Published on 5 Dec 2008 by Rankersbo
All made up
What many reviewers here are missing is that this book, a letter to a son whose 8-year old is supposed to have have been kicked unconscious by immigrants, is a work of fiction. Read more
Published on 23 Jun 2008 by Mr Gladstone
Narrow-minded rubbish from an anti-English snob
Conservative blogger Iain Dale once characterised George Walden as a "pub bore". Having read this inane piece of tripe I'm inclined to agree with him. Read more
Published on 28 Oct 2007 by M. Gordon
Look after you and yours
This book is written in the form of a long letter the format of which I found got in the way of the content but after a while this is forgotten. Read more
Published on 4 Sep 2007 by ISCA
One for Daily Mail readers
Some valid points are made during this book, and it is compelling reading, but overall it is 99% negative in tone about the future of England, and Mr Walden comes across as a... Read more
Published on 2 April 2007 by P. Alcock
Recommended - with reservations
Walden's book is definitely worth a read - and I mean by every person in Britain - even though it's not without its faults. Read more
Published on 23 Dec 2006 by Charles
taping into many young peoples current fantasies
I found this book extremely touching, not easy to achieve with such a sensitive subject. The book is written as comment and advice from a father to his grown son (himself now the... Read more
Published on 9 Nov 2006 by mark wilson
disappointing
I really enjoyed Walden's "New Elites" and there are moments in this one when he extends the thesis he delivered in that book. Read more
Published on 7 Nov 2006 by Mr. M. J. Bowen
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