SuitabookBlack and British: An Illustrated History
David Olusoga
- Reading
- Browse the maps, portraits and timelines first, then read in sections rather than treating the long history as one sitting. Pause after difficult subjects and check which people’s perspectives are foregrounded.
- Themes
- Recovering overlooked histories: The book presents Black people as part of British history from Roman times onwards and asks why these histories were not always taught or recorded. The book takes a critical view of this.
- Britain’s links with enslavement: The book addresses britain’s links with enslavement; the detail of how it is developed remains unclear. The book gives historical information about Britain’s involvement and its consequences rather than presenting slavery as an isolated subject.
- Migration and belonging: The book includes Jamaican people arriving with the Windrush in 1948 and describes their hope of making a new life in Britain alongside Britain’s shameful treatment of them. The framing recognises both the newcomers’ hopes and the injustice they encountered.
- Worth knowing
- Expect serious material, including kidnapping, enslavement, exploitative labour, war and shameful treatment of people arriving in Britain. The treatment of the present day and any especially graphic imagery remains unclear.