[1] At first, the British government took a relaxed attitude to the tens of thousands of "enemy aliens", most of them refugees who had found sanctuary in Britain from the Nazis.

When Italy joined the war thousands of Italians were rounded up too, also irrespective of their political allegiances or how long they had lived in Britain.

There were two more deportation voyages to Canada before the outcry in Britain over the Arandora Star led the British government to revise its policy.

From that point on, the internees were gradually released from their holding camps in Britain, leaving only a handful of confirmed Nazis and Fascists.

The book won very favourable reviews when it was published, and became the standard reference source on that topic, until the issue was reopened twenty years later.