Immigration, 'Race' and Ethnicity in Contemporary France

Rating:
Summary: If statistics are your thing, this is your book
Review: I had to read this book for preliminary work for my upcoming year in Paris. The title makes it seem like it would be somewhat interesting. Granted, I'm not that much interested by politics and things of that nature but I thought I'd be able to reasonably get through this book. However, there was only one small section on language and culture that actually peaked my interest. I thought that the bulk of the book was taking up by Hargreaves throwing statistics about ethnic groups in France and not so much analyzing these stastics or how to better the situation of these groups. However, if you like politics and statistics this is the book for you. Students writing on this subject might find it helpful as well to quote statistics from for their own analytical work.

Rating:
Summary: The most concise and approachable book on this subject.
Review: The controversial yet very real issue of immigration in France is dealt with in an interesting and logical way. It addresses the most important issues in an impartial and thematic way and presents the facts very coherently. It is an invaluable source of information of the roots of the problem with race and ethnicity. Although it is really a study text, I found it so interesting that I read it all at once. It is also perhaps the only book on this subject in English!