it is the year 2084. scotland is independent and england has a nonwhite majority. the change of majorities, though predictable after a century of immigration, has plunged the country into crisis. political parties are polarized along racial lines. ethnic communities have become closed and hostile to one another. sharia law is in force in certain cities. millions of english whites have fled to scotland or other countries. these expatriates refer to their homeland as "engelstan". the new prime minister of england, makhdoom khan, is a man with a mission. make sure that the white english never regain control of the country. the leader of the opposition is eliminated by a staged sex scandal. meanwhile a white nationalist terrorist movement led by a maverick academic is pushing the nation to the brink of civil war. roland, an anglo-swiss journalist, whose mother is one of millions of english exiles, returns to investigate the turmoil in his ancestral homeland. he tries to track down and interview the white terrorist leader, who leads him on a bizarre odyssey across the country. he falls in love with a beautiful nationalist extremist and becomes caught up in an opposition plot to bring down the government. as the action races to a climax, the question the characters grapple with is: can engelstan be undone? or is it now irreversible? and has england gone forever?