The General Election of 1964 made it obvious that immigration is the most explosive question behind the scenery of English politics today. 

Dark Strangers presents a remarkable and very detailed survey of the relationships between West Indian migrants and the local population of the Brixton area of London. Patterson analyses these relationships in terms of the concept of 'accommodation', which she defines as 'an early phase of adaptation and acceptance in which migrants and local people achieve a minimum modus vivendi'. She concentrates her inquiry on three main areas of association - employment, housing, and social and cultural activities - and, despite the inevitable difficulties of the future, her findings do suggest that eventually migrants will be accepted and at least partially absorbed into the local population.