Enoch Was Right: 'Rivers of Blood' 50 Years On

It was enlightening to read a book about a British politician who became known for questioning the results of the nationality acts that brought large numbers of Indian, Pakistani, African, and West Indian immigrants into Britain because of their Commonwealth citizenship status written by a Pakistani immigrant. Enoch Powell was a scholar, professor of Greek, British Army Brigadier with extensive service in India . His speech on April 20, 1968 expressed concerns regarding possible racial breakdowns over color, which was virtually unknown in British history. He was castigated by political opposition and media who misrepresented both his words and his intentions. He was the furthest thing from being a racist , but it kept him from further political achievements. He could have been an outstanding a Prime Minister. But, it turns out, he was right.

I really didn't understand what was/is going on in the UK, or rather why it is going on. I like Raheem's writing style, and tho I had put off reading it because I didn't want to concentrate, I really didn't need to postpone it. Although a serious subject, it has a great and easy flow of information, a lot of which I knew, but the why had escaped me. It is all put in a logical and cohesive form. I would have to say I learned a lot. Even read the footnotes - twice. This is truly a cautionary tale for the US. Take note or pay the consequences.Raheem, if you wrote your story I would buy it.

Author Raheem Kassam thinks it was a tragedy of the first magnitude that Enoch Powell never became British prime minister. After reading Kassam's account of Powell's thinking, I agree. Indeed, it was a tragedy for the entire Western world that, already by 1968, Western political "leadership" -- or more accurately: power -- was in the hands of spineless lightweights such as Edward Heath.If you'd like a sort of slim version of Kassam's book, find online John Derbyshire's classic article from May 2001, "The Island Race…Riots." While he only briefly mentions Powell himself, Derbyshire eloquently lays out the state of affairs that Powell was warning about.So what's actually in Kassam's book? He examines in great detail the ideas that Powell dealt with in his "Rivers of Blood" speech (which didn't actually contain that phrase). He establishes how substantial and far-seeing Powell was -- the very opposite of the 'xenophobe, racist, blah-blah-blah' that Powell is typically smeared as.Particularly interesting features:- Kassam's observations of the state-of-life in Britain's immigration-blitzed cities, reinforcing (17 years on) what Derbyshire had to say.- The chapter that's an interview of Nigel Farage, who can be considered a political heir of Powell.- The section on Trevor Phillips (son of immigrants from British Guiana), past head of Britain's Equality and Human Rights Commission, who apparently agrees with much of what Powell said in the "Rivers of Blood" speech (and consistently thereafter) but nevertheless decries the speech because its notoriety made it impossible to talk in public about racial subjects. (But isn't this a statement about the fecklessness of political "leadership," not a legitimate charge against Powell?)- Kassam's own back story. Son of Muslim Indian immigrants from East Africa.I give the book 4 stars instead of 5 because it could have used polishing. There are lots of typos, and Appendix A has the peculiarity that the final line of each paragraph gets spread across the entire page width (i.e. it's both right **and** left justified!). Since the book is self-published (thus maybe print-on-demand), perhaps Kassam or a friend could go back through and clean it up.It also could use a lot more on Kassam's own back story, because this must surely be interesting and pertinent to Kassam becoming an acolyte of Powell. How did a young Muslim man in increasingly-Islam-impacted England become an atheist and apparent great skeptic of Islam? But maybe that's grist for another book. (There's a Wikipedia entry on Kassam.)

Great second book after 'No Go Zones'. The foresight of Enoch Powell is amazing. This is an important and incisive book that should be read by all who wish to understand the ramifications of multiculturalism and implications for social cohesion within our country and other countries in the western world.

This book was enlightening! I found myself surprised as tot he detail and research invested in its pages. This truly makes one think Enoch was really a prophet.

Britain and the UK are in big, big trouble. Islam is an ideology that is incompatible and must be returned to Islamic countries immediately.Their plan is not to assimilate, but to rule.

order came early...book as expected. thank you.

The most comprehensive and insightful analysis I have come across.

Mr. Powell was ahead of his time, and the content of the book is more applicable in 2023 than when the book was published......sad, but true.

I'm halfway through Enoch Powell was right book. Excellent read and oh was he right.

He was right you may think what you want about him

Well done Raheem. Enjoying this book as much as No-Go Zones.

I’ve just finished reading “Enoch was Right” by Raheen Kassam, and I’ve got a bit to say. Although I was in my teens when the “Rivers of Blood” speech was made I wasn’t very interested in politics in those days so to a large extent it passed me by. Perhaps I heard more about it when a (verging on communist he was so far left) member of my university course was always banging on about Powellism. I suppose I picked up more about it as the years went by, but it was only with the 50th anniversary of the speech that I really got to grips with what it was all about and how relevant it is to our situation today.Raheen Kassam is an interesting and well informed man. Indian by race and Muslim by culture he is obviously an integral part of the problem that Powell foresaw, but despite that the two men, along with Nigel Farage, were friends many years ago. Although he only occasionally mentions it, the racial prejudice that Mr Kassam has experienced in his life gives an additional dimension to his ability to write about a subject that affects everyone, not only in this country, but so many other western European nations as well.So, it is interesting that a man such as Mr Kassam, himself of immigrant parents though not, I think, of an immigrant community, should be such a supporter of Enoch Powell. Surely this monster was the most racist man who ever walked on England’s green and pleasant land. But in fact, Kassam shows how Powell was more of a realist than a racist. In fact, if the number of immigrants was kept sufficiently low, the new arrivals would not provoke hostility from the indigenous population. It was more about numbers than race or skin colour.Now we have the situation where those on the left of the political spectrum have this ideal vision of a world without borders where everyone can come and go as they please to create a multi-cultural society. And of course, everyone who doesn’t agree with them is automatically branded a racist, bigot, Nazi, fascist etc. The problem is, one of the more recently arrived groups, even though they are without doubt a minority culture, has no interest in being part of the multi-cultural society. And it appears none of us have the tools to deal with such a situation. If only Enoch was here to help us now.For anyone attempting to understand Britain’s present racial problems, this book is a must.