The Last of the Lascars

The Last of the Lascars: Yemeni Muslims in Britain 1836-2012 charts the fascinating and little-known history of Britain's oldest Muslim community. Originally arriving as imperial oriental sailors and later as postcolonial labour migrants, Yemeni Muslims have lived in British ports and industrial cities from the mid-nineteenth century, marrying local British wives, established a network of 'Arab-only' boarding houses and cafes. They also established Britain's first mosques and religious communities in the early twentieth century, encountering racism, discrimination and even deportation in the process. Based on original research, this book brings together the unique narratives and events in the story of a British Muslim community that stretches across 170 years of history from empire to modern multicultural Britain.