The late Michael Young was co-author of the much-celebrated Family and Kinship in East London and founded institutions including the Consumers' Association and the Open University.Kate Gavron is a fellow at the Young Foundation and a vice-chair of the Runnymede Trust.Geoff Dench is Professor of Sociology at Middlesex University and a fellow at the Young Foundation. He trained as a social anthropologist at Cambridge and the LSE.

This is a fascinating and honest book which builds upon the classic Family and Kinship in East London published nearly 50 years ago reflecting the afterglow of wartime and the early construction of the welfare state. It provides a fine piece of contemporary history of the years between. It faces up squarely to the problems posed to the UK model of social democracy by the inflows of immigration which have transformed the demographic make-up of Tower Hamlets leaving many traditional Bethnal Greeners baffled and embittered. It is also very well written - itself a classic study in social research all the more poignant because his shared authorship makes it Michael Young's last published work. Peter Hennessy

The late Michael Young was co-author of the much-celebrated Family and Kinship in East London and founded institutions including the Consumers' Association and the Open University.Kate Gavron is a fellow at the Young Foundation and a vice-chair of the Runnymede Trust.Geoff Dench is Professor of Sociology at Middlesex University and a fellow at the Young Foundation. He trained as a social anthropologist at Cambridge and the LSE.

This is a fascinating and honest book which builds upon the classic Family and Kinship in East London published nearly 50 years ago reflecting the afterglow of wartime and the early construction of the welfare state. It provides a fine piece of contemporary history of the years between. It faces up squarely to the problems posed to the UK model of social democracy by the inflows of immigration which have transformed the demographic make-up of Tower Hamlets leaving many traditional Bethnal Greeners baffled and embittered. It is also very well written - itself a classic study in social research all the more poignant because his shared authorship makes it Michael Young's last published work. Peter Hennessy

The late Michael Young was co-author of the much-celebrated Family and Kinship in East London and founded institutions including the Consumers' Association and the Open University.Kate Gavron is a fellow at the Young Foundation and a vice-chair of the Runnymede Trust.Geoff Dench is Professor of Sociology at Middlesex University and a fellow at the Young Foundation. He trained as a social anthropologist at Cambridge and the LSE.

This is a fascinating and honest book which builds upon the classic Family and Kinship in East London published nearly 50 years ago reflecting the afterglow of wartime and the early construction of the welfare state. It provides a fine piece of contemporary history of the years between. It faces up squarely to the problems posed to the UK model of social democracy by the inflows of immigration which have transformed the demographic make-up of Tower Hamlets leaving many traditional Bethnal Greeners baffled and embittered. It is also very well written - itself a classic study in social research all the more poignant because his shared authorship makes it Michael Young's last published work. Peter Hennessy