Alarmed by race riots in the 1980s, local and national government in Britain embarked on a multicultural strategy. Respect was to be accorded to different ways of life and, fatally, these ways of life were to be classified as communities with their own "community leaders".

In a way, it worked. Racism did, indeed, decline. But the price was high. The creation of "communities" replaced racism with tribalism and, in 2005, tribal riots between blacks and Asians broke out in Birmingham. These riots were caused by multiculturalism. Before the council told them they were members of a "community", they were just people living together in the same place. "Hostility," writes Kenan Malik, "is not in the blood of Asians or African-Caribbeans. It is in the DNA of multicultural policies."

The creation of communities in the name of multiculturalism was an admission of government incompetence. When Tony Blair wanted to fight extremism in the "Muslim community", he said it was not his job but that of "community leaders". Britain had become a patchwork of non-white no-go areas.

From Fatwa to Jihad tells, for the most part brilliantly, this baleful tale. Malik is well-placed to do so. He was born in India and came to Britain at the age of five. His mother was Hindu and his father Muslim, but he did not have a religious upbringing. Racism, not religion, formed his early radicalism as it did that of many non-whites in this country.