In this book, Paul gilroy addresses the plight of a beleaguered multiculture, and defends it against accusations of failure. He examines the invention of the hierarchical category of "race", and its terrible consequences in colonialism and fascism, and considers how the work of thinkers including George Orwell, Frantz Fanon and W.E.B. DuBois can shed light on contemporary debates about nationalim, postcolonialism, and race.