What a great book. It is a little too long. It is written very honestly and is so informative. It is well written and a book everyone in UK should read

This is a story of modern, Muslim Britain as it has never been told. Thank you for this advanced copy which was a great read, I had trouble putting this down! I liked the way it was written and it made for a thoughtful book.

Sarfraz Manzoor's position as the teller of the tale of 'They' is a complex one. He is a Pakistani-born immigrant whose parents brought him to Luton as a toddler. He's now a journalist, writer (famously the man behind the beautiful Bruce Springsteen film homage 'Blinded by the Light' aka the book 'Greetings from Bury Park'). He is married to a white Scotswoman called Bridget and is father to two mixed-race children.

He wants to understand the role of British Pakistani-heritage Muslims in our society. And he wants us to understand it too. Trouble is, it's a heck of a complex topic for him and us to get our heads around.

He addresses common perceptions and misperceptions. Sometimes he can debunk theories (I love the example of the Bradford Pakistani-born Muslims who rescued the local synagogue) and sometimes he's forced to conclude that there are very real problems. The chapter on the grooming of young white girls by gangs of Pakistani men in several of the nation's cities cannot mitigate that particular evil simply by pointing out that white folks also sleep with young girls and are perhaps a bit more likely to sexually abuse young people within their own families. There are no easy answers and at least he's as honest as he can be about the problems.

There are lots of interesting and sometimes inspiring stories in 'They'. Sometimes the people described turn out to be people we already know. Sometimes we're very disappointed by them, and sometimes a person who is inspiring in one endeavour (the guy who got people together to go and help with the flooding in Cumbria) are then revealed to be pretty bigoted in other areas (telling young people that Muslims cannot be gay).

For anybody thinking about reading this, it's important to be aware that this isn't a book about Muslims in total - it's a book about Muslims of Pakistani origin. That might seem a bit limiting, but actually to address the wider challenges of the entire world Islamic culture and religion would be overwhelming for any writer. So he writes what he knows and - to a degree - what he has in part left behind him. He's lost his role as one of 'them' and become an outsider-insider - not quite the people he writes about but not entirely separate from that society.

I recommend it as a well-paced, not too academic examination of big issues that's peppered with lots of examples of real people and real experience.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my copy.

Thank you for the advanced copy, this book is vital I think and could be used in schools etc.

The layout is genius and allows you to go back and forth and it prompts you to ask yourself various questions and then dive back in.

Highly recommended

This book sets out to address issues surrounding perceptions of Muslims in our society. It does this through the lens of the author’s personal experiences and with a mix of interviews and research presenting an engaging and fresh approach.
The division of chapters, each beginning with a statement, would make it easy to dip in and out to focus on the various issues raised.
Manzoor asks many questions of himself as well as the reader and this book deserves a wide platform and it serves as a way to open up discussions that are long overdue.
“Whatever your preconceptions and prejudices, I hope there are moments when they are challenged, and you occasionally feel uncomfortable when forced to confront what you thought you believed”. I did.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this interesting book, I hope others will too.