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This is a brilliant book. Despite the breadth of its scope - it makes a powerful case for not thinking of Black British history as starting with the Windrush generation, but instead encompassing centuries of Britain's relationship with the people of Africa and the Caribbean - and the depth of its research, the writing style makes it accessible and really enjoyable to read. Highly recommend it.

I bought this book by mistake when trying to buy the adult version (which is one of the best non-fiction books I've ever read.) This version is a concise tour of Black, British history for the younger audience.

I decided to read it for a recap. To cement my understanding and revise the key points from the parent book. It was engaging, interesting & essential.

If the adult volume feels like too much of a commitment: read this instead!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wish I'd brought me book to the pub earlier instead of watching the Oldham match, which was terrible. #BooksAndBooze

Sundaying #BooksAndBooze

Just the 3.65 mile walk to the pub today, might clock up another mile or two on the way home. #BooksAndBooze

6 mile walk to the pub. Earned a beer. #BooksAndBooze

Solo date night while the other half is away for work. #BooksAndBooze followed by Cocaine Bear. Living my absolute best life.

Sundaying. Why yes, I have got two drinks on the go, what of it?

Sundaying #BooksAndBooze

#ReadHarder challenges 10&11: Finish a book you‘ve DNFed; a nonfiction book about BIPOC and/or queer history.

#12booksof2022

January pick is Black & British by David Olusoga. An astonishing work of non-fiction exploring the history of black people in the UK.

A well researched, thorough and illuminating work.

'impromptu auriculectomy' is not a phrase I expected to read today. And I'm a clinical coder.

Next up #BlackHistoryMonth

First book of 2022 and an easy 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is a very important book. David Olusoga tells the story of black British history through the centuries and shows us how interwoven are the lives of people living both in Britain and throughout the old empire.

In this book, I learned about the injustices, sufferings, maltreatment and betrayals visited upon black people over the years (to the present day) and it breaks my heart.

Continued...

So far, this book is superb and essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the history of Britain.

I initially bought the shorter version aimed at younger readers by mistake. As this is a very dense volume, the shorter version (same title and author) may be more accessible if you're interested in the subject but short on time.

We've finally got our tree up today! Im enjoying the peace and quiet while my parents are at the pub.

David Olusoga not only tells the stories of Black people in Britain, but brings the historical context to life.

It looks like this is going to be an informative and comprehensive history, although the maltreatment of black people is heartbreaking to read about.

David Olusoga was on Portrait Artist of the Year this evening!

So far, I'm impressed with his book: Black and British. I'm not that far in yet, but I think it will be an informative and important read.

I really did learn so much reading this. Reading about Bunce Island sent me down a Internet rabbit hole. The effect of Uncle Toms Cabin on the British public makes me want to pick this book up soon, plus learning about Sarah Forbes Bonetta really was enlightening of the time period.

This is a pretty dense non fiction text and at times I felt I was wading through treacle but it really was worth the effort. Full review on Goodreads, link in bio.

Perhaps this is the month that I finally read Black and British!

#IntegrateYourShelf @ChasingOm @Emilymdxn

This is probably one if the best books I read all year and that‘s mostly because I learned so much from it. It took me 2 months to read but it was worth it. It‘s dense and extremely informative. I loved the writing and the few times their were statistics I was totally surprised by them. I highly recommend this book to people who are truly interested in learning about Black British people & enjoy history as a whole. You won‘t learn this in school.

I sincerely hope you're all having as good a Christmas. All the best xxx

Read as a book group read. Too heavy going for me at the present time. Sadly.

Reading for my book group. The theme was slave trade in the UK. After several nominations and then a vote, this one won. Not sure it will be my cup of tea as I‘m not a big fan of non-fiction. We shall see.

I feel terrible only giving this a so-so, as it is an important book to read (and I love the author on TV!).

However this history felt very dense and a little bit dry; I think it suffered from a lack of personal histories. I‘m also more interested in the history of the last century, which felt rushed at the end. Eg, the narrative jumped straight from 1919 to WWII, and events between the Windrush and present day were covered in only a few pages.

A really interesting non-fiction book about black british history over several centuries. The only downside is its length, it took me so long to get through it, but it was never boring.

OK, I confess, I have a bit of a crush on historian David Olusoga. He has one of those mellifluous voices that one could listen to for hours, even if he were just narrating the telephone directory. Thankfully, he uses his voice to give us interesting facts on a number of TV history programmes, as well as writing some great books on British history.

#BlackInTheTitle #GratefulReads
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620

I have quite a few #black titles! #chillingphotochallenge @Clwojick #scarathlon

62pts +1 = 63pts

Giving this a generous 3 🌟 as it's quite dry and has taken me an age to finish - in fact, I don't think I would have if I hadn't added the audio, as I could do other things whilst listening.

#scaryscavengerhunt
👻 Black on cover
👻 Over 200 pages

#teamslaughter @Clwojick

12pts + 2 = 14pts (I think I've got this right - it's 1 for the book and 1 for participation? If not I'm on 13)

Edited to correct points +2 for scavenger hunt prompts = 16

#24b4monday final stats:
🧞‍♀️ Finished The Strange Death of Europe by Douglas Murray
🧞‍♀️ 48% through Black and British by David Olusoga

Read the assigned chapters for The Lost Queen by Signe Pike before the readathon started, so not counting that. #literarycrew @Librarybelle

Final time is roughly 21 hours! @TheReadingMermaid @Andrew65

#blackorwhite #SeptemberSins

Black wins title/author search on my Kindle! (White titles/authors are on the far right!)

12% through tagged book - it's good but I keep on being distracted by others!

In case it isn't obvious, this prompt is for Shaun.

@Cinfhen @squirrelbrain

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/may/25/the-book-that-changed-my-mind-matt...

Planned April Reads. Tagged book isn't really #closetohome, but it's probably the best I can do today. #AnglophileApril @Cinfhen @Mdargusch @emilyhaldi @Reviewsbylola

Wonderful book! Really well written, audio well narrated, made so many painful or under-discussed topics clearer. Even tho some of the stuff discussed was horrific the style made you feel very able to read it. Can‘t wait to hear him speak this weekend!

Very excited to see David Olusoga speak next week! I didn‘t think I‘d manage to read this before the event so I‘m pleased I shuffled things around to fit it in

For yesterday's #agameoffavorites I'm using this book from my #tbr.

I'm also waiting to see if he tweets a reply about his favourite fiction books.

@ErinSueG @WhiskeyMistress

#rushrush makes me think of the #Windrush scandal so have a couple of books about that! #HeatofJuly @Cinfhen @BarbaraBB

#uklittens has anyone else been watching the series about Stephen Lawrence on iplayer? This is heartbreaking stuff but really important to watch. We need to remember this and fight to not let systematic racism win.

I don't usually give 5☆ but I think this is one. Difficult read at times cause of the subject but meticulously researched and a really important part of British history that is usually left out.
Plus David is a really good storyteller; I didn't want to put this down!
(Think I might have found my new historian crush, he's brilliant)

#2017awardwinner for #litsyreadingchallenge

#readingchallenge #whatireadin2018 #nonfiction #history #lrc

Saturday Library book haul;
The World's War, David Olusoga
Black and British, David Olusoga
The Invention of Murder, Judith Flanders
A Book of American Martyrs, Joyce Carol Pages

I've been watching David Olusoga's tv show on the BBC and he tells a story well so I thought I'd check out his books. Looking forward to reading up on history that is not covered enough!

#fiction #nonfiction #history #military #crime

Ghost is uncertain what to read next. She finds our current #audiobook (The Historian) boring.

I might read Strange the Dreamer with her, or The Seven Husbands..., or West End Girls?

#CatsOfLitsy

Here's a pic of my loose TBR for #nonfictionnovember. Are you joining in? If so let me know what's on your Nonfiction TBR....

#black #rocktober
@Cinfhen @BarbaraBB
Some black titles on the kindle 😀 I've read 2/4 of these so quite good!

#bookspiral TBR edition

#uncannyoctober @RealLifeReading

I should read faster!

Wow! Both great books. The Bedlam Stacks has a lovely cover and is quite large, for a paperback. Black and British is thicker than I had anticipated.

Amazon forgot to pack that extra reading day a week. 😉

Absolutely incredible #edbookfest event with David Olusoga talking about race in Britain's past, present and future, rescuing lost voices and integrating black history with "mainstream" British and global history. Change isn't going to come from governments, it had to come from us and the ways we live our lives, it's all about changing the demographics. Subdued but with a glimmer of hope

I had a good reading month.

#bestofjanuary #readjanuary #ro17

#readjanuary so to me being inspired by #martinlutherkingjr includes learning about the history of black people where I live too. This book was recently published and I want to get to it at some point this year. There's certain quarters of people in the uk who feel a bit smug that that we didn't have a similar civil rights movement here and I've been stuck in the past with in very uncomfortable conversations with people continued in comments

So I'm giving up sugar that is not fair trade. You never think while adding a spoon to sweeten your tea that 'this is the stuff that birthed racism, specifically anti-blackness. But it is. It was literally created to justify the acquisition of tremendous wealth by white men.

Finally reached the end of my epic nf read and I'm whole-heartedly recommending this one. David Olusoga is an awesome storyteller -far from light-reading, but had me on the edge of my seat throughout. He covers the history of Black British ppl here & overseas, from Roman regiments, Black Georgians, slave trade, Empire, through World Wars and Windrush generation to the 1980s. Fascinating, shocking, essential, very readable & I need to learn more.

And so we move on to a chapter on the history of racism in 19th Century Britain, the rise of attitudes which would not have been acceptable just 15 years earlier, and the new forms of 'scientific' racism found in Social Darwinism.

The waves of attitude changes, and the jaw-dropping 'facts' some of these guys are spouting...