ABSTRACT
This book is a comparative study that examines the history, memory and identity of African-Caribbean and Jewish communities in twentieth century Britain. 1 Generally in academia these two communities have not been compared with each other and although there have recently been a few short studies focusing on comparable experiences, they are not in depth and additionally do not explore historical memory or identity. Often when these groups have been compared to one another they have been done so in a detrimental and destructive manner, usually resulting in Jews being seen as the ideal migrant as opposed to African-Caribbeans. As David Cesarani has argued, ‘while there are huge differences between the saga of Jews and that of immigrants from the Commonwealth and Pakistan, there are also similarities that are obscured if the myth of success is repeated unceasingly and uncritically.’ 2 This book demonstrates that both communities have had comparable experiences. Moreover, they have often interpreted their experiences in similar ways, especially in their employment or debunking of mythologies.
