Strangers, Aliens and Asians

First comprehensive look at 300 years of immigration in the Spitalfields area, although the location has received much scholarly attentionImmigration studies is a growing field with plenty of room for additional research

• Acknowledgements List of Maps Introduction 1. People, Place and a Phenomenon 2. Home 3. Spitalfields: A Place on the Edge 4. Religion 5. Charity and Welfare 6. Mother Tongue a Bridge to Assimilation 7. Huguenots, Jews and Bangladeshis and The Spirit of Capitalism 8. Xenophobia, Anti-Alienism and Racism 9. Conclusion Bibliography

'Anne Kerschen's book is a welcome addition to the field of research on diasporic groups in Britain.' - Black and Asian Studies Association'The London neighborhood of Spitalfields has been home to minority groups for centuries and has over the years been known as Petty France, Little Jerusalem, and, now, Banglatown. Examining the neighborhood’s Huguenots emigrating from France in the 17th and 18th centuries, Eastern European Jews arriving in the last third of the 19th century, and Bangladeshis that started showing up in the 1950s, Kershen (director, Centre for the Study of Migration, U. of London, UK) thematically explores the dynamics driving the processes of immigration settlement and assimilation in London. He further seeks to assess whether immigration and assimilation patterns are solely the outcome of temporal setting, cultural background, and socio-economic and political conditions, or whether other factors come into play.' – Reference & Research Book News