Both timely and topical, with 2005 marking the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, this unique book examines the little-known and under-researched area of German migration to Britain in the immediate post-war era. Authors Weber-Newth and Steinert analyze the political framework of post-war immigration and immigrant policy, and the complex decision-making processes that led to large-scale labour migration from the continent. They consider:

* identity, perception of self and others, stereotypes and prejudice
* how migrants dealt with language and intercultural issues
* migrants' attitudes towards national socialist and contemporary Germany
* migrants' motivation for leaving Germany
* migrants' initial experiences and their reception in Britain after the war, as recalled after 50 years in the host country, compared to their original expectations.

Based on rich British and German governmental and non-governmental archive sources, contemporary newspaper articles and nearly eighty biographically oriented interviews with German migrants, this outstanding volume, a must-read for students and scholars in the fields of social history, sociology and migration studies, expertly encompasses political as well as social-historical questions and engages with the social, economic and cultural situation of German immigrants to Britain from a life-historical perspective."

Both timely and topical, with 2005 marking the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, this unique book examines the little-known and under-researched area of German migration to Britain in the immediate post-war era. Authors Weber-Newth and Steinert analyze the political framework of post-war immigration and immigrant policy, and the complex decision-making processes that led to large-scale labour migration from the continent. They consider: * identity, perception of self and others, stereotypes and prejudice * how migrants dealt with language and intercultural issues * migrants' attitudes towards national socialist and contemporary Germany * migrants' motivation for leaving Germany * migrants' initial experiences and their reception in Britain after the war, as recalled after 50 years in the host country, compared to their original expectations. Based on rich British and German governmental and non-governmental archive sources, contemporary newspaper articles and nearly eighty biographically-oriented interviews with German migrants, this outstanding volume, a must-read for students and scholars in the fields of social history, sociology and migration studies, expertly encompasses political as well as social-historical questions and engages with the social, economic and cultural situation of German immigrants to Britain from a life-historical perspective.

The volume contains the contributions to the international conference "European Immigrants in Britain, 1933-50" which took place in December 2000 at the German Historical Institute in London, U.K. Papers analysed the British immigration and immigrant policies and examined social, cultural and economic aspects of the subject as well as questions of migrants' perception of self and other and the reactions of the receiving community.

The conference proceedings enable the direct comparison of different European migrant groups and their experiences. This applies to areas of British immigration and immigrant policy as well as to migrants' perceptions of themselves and their new environment: How was the receiving society perceived? How were the immigrants seen? What impact did stereotypes, role-expectations, racism, xenophobia or experiences of conflict have on individual lives? What role did gender, education or training play in the process of migration and resettlement?