A minority and the state looks at the relationship between Travellers, or 'Gypsies', and the wider settled society in Britain throughout the twentieth century. This detailed study considers the ways in which the state has tried to create and enforce legislation to regulate their lifestyles, as well as the Travellers' responses, and resistance, to these efforts.

The book is a much needed history of Britain's travelling communities in the twentieth century, drawing together detailed archival research at local and national level to explore the impact of state and legislative developments on Travellers, as well as their experience of missions, education, war and welfare. It offers a new perspective on British ethnic history by arguing that Travellers' experiences should not be understood as the history of a nomadic group, but in terms of the wider history of British minorities.