Balti Britain

Balti Britain
by: Ziauddin Sardar
RRP: £25.00 (hardback)

Inspired by his Asian background and the emergence of British Asians as a force of cultural change in Britain, Ziauddin Sardar travelled to the six main Asian communities in the UK - Leicester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Bradford, Tower Hamlets and Oldham. His quest: to understand the British Aisan experience.

Telling the history of Asians in Britain, from the arrival of the first Indian in 1614, to the first Balti dish in Britain to the young extremists in Walthamstow mosque in 2006, Sardar interweaves an illuminating account of his own life, describing his carefree childhood in Pakistan, his family's emigration to racist 1950s Britian and his adulthood straddling two cultures. The result is both a narrative of self-discovery and a sharp and witty look at Asian religions, cultures, traditions, families and food.

Along the way he questions: are arranged marriages a good thing? Does the term 'Asian' obscure more than it conveys? Do Vindaloo and Balti actually exist? How far does 'the disease that is in us is of us and within us' describe Islamic terrorism? And is multiculturalism an impossible dream?

Balti Britain is a blend of history, reportage and memoir which will make all Britons - Asian or otherwise - see their economy through fresh eyes. Funny, surprising, personal and controversial, it will appeal to anyone interested in what it means to be British today.

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18 August 2008