Description
Book SynopsisThis book is the first in-depth study of early Arab immigrants to Britain, and provides a unique insight into their everyday lives.
Trade Review
". . . This is a book which encompasses several interests - migration, the sociology of the merchant navy, Muslim settlement in Britain, politics and society of Yemen, local English History. On each of these counts, Richard Lawless has written a valuable and enthralling study." (Journal of Semitic Studies, Vol. 42, No. 2, 1997)
"The book serves as more than simply the history of a small community in the north-east of England. In methodological terms, and in the ways in which it seeks to do justice to the subjects of its study, it is a model which historians and sociologists working in the general area of 'race' and ethnicity should study carefully. Its sensitivity and its depth of research, including some wonderful photographs, deserve a considerable audience." (Immigrants and Minorities)
Table of Contents
1. The earliest Arab immigrants - the pioneers
2. Aden and the Yemmen - emigration and society
3. The "Big Men" of the community - the Arab boarding-house masters
4. Unwelcome guests - competition for jobs;
5. South Shields the storm centre - the rota system and the "Arab Riot" of August 1930
6. After the storm
7. Mixed marriages and moral outrage;
8. Religious revival and political rivalries;
9. The post-war years - integration and assimilation.
Appendix: the rota system
