This is the first in a series of "Soundings" books. It brings together a collection of the best of recent work on race and identity in Soundings, and includes a new introductory essay. Themes covered include multiculturalism and segregation; young people and gun crime; British identity and melancholia; conviviality; identity and belonging; and, cosmopolitanism and institutional racism. Contributors include: Zygmunt Bauman, Farhad Dalal, Paul Gilroy, Bilkis Malek, Tariq Modood, Roshi Naidoo, Amir Saeed, George Shire, Ejos Ubiribo, Patrick Wright, and Nira Yuval-Davis.