Immigration, ethnicity, multiculturalism and racism are often perceived as recent additions to the British social and cultural landscape - yet, far from being new, these phenomena have characterised British life since the 19th century. Although the numbers of immigrants have increased since the Second World War, groups such as the Irish, Germans and East European Jews have been arriving, settling and making an impact on British society from the Victorian period onwards.<BR><BR>In this comprehensive and fascinating account, Panikos Panayi tackles the many contradictions in the history of immigration over the past two centuries: migration versus government control; migrant poverty versus social mobility; ethnic identity versus increasing Anglicisation; and, above all, racism versus multiculturalism.<BR><BR>Providing an important historical context to contemporary debates, and taking into account the complexity and variety of individual experiences over time, this book demonstrates that no simple approach or theory can summarise the migrant experience in Britain.