In less than a decade, Britain has reinvented itself completely in terms of how it understands immigration's economic value to the country and, hence, how the government relates to the issue. As a result, from one of the many European laggards on immigration thinking and action – plodding, uncertain, backward-looking, and investing scarce administrative and political resources in micro-managing processes expressly intended to minimise immigration – the Blair government turned Britain into a veritable hotbed of policy innovation, extraordinary activism and a commitment to growth through immigration. The transformation has been massive, relentless and completely transparent – and hence available for everyone to agonise over, criticise and witness the bureaucratic struggles endemic to managing an activist immigration policy.

As a result, Britain today stands head and shoulders above the rest of Europe in how it conceives of immigration and its value to the country. It remains the only European country with a well-developed and flexibly administered points system and is a key magnet for international students. However, even the occasional review of the British media points to the strong and growing reaction to immigrants, the focal point of which has been the volume of immigration. With levels of net immigration nearly quadrupling under New Labour, a trend also reflected across Europe but mostly at sharply lower growth rates, the economic benefits of migration may be threatened by deep social and cultural unease.

Immigration under New Labour covers a decade of migration policy making in Britain. By the time it ‘hits the shelves’, Prime Minister Tony Blair will have left office, making the book the definitive statement on Mr Blair's immigration revolution. Indeed, an apt description of the book might be ‘Immigration: the Blair years’, as it covers the period from May 1997 to May 2007.

The book serves several purposes and will be useful to four main audiences. First, for the student of migration, whether serious or casual, the book is an excellent primer on British migration policy, providing a brief historical introduction and illuminating some of the key trends in migration policy under ‘New Labour’. Second, the volume will be a useful reference book for scholars interested in contemporary migration.