Black and British: A short, essential history

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Nikesh Shukla's collection of essays, The Good Immigrant, is another important and insightful contribution to the conversation around British culture and identity. At the beginning and end, he mournfully captures that feeling of being unwelcome in Britain, and the desire for flight, to escape the brutal and bruising atmosphere that I, as a child of Jamaican immigrants, felt in the 1970s. They would complain to the owners of pubs, restaurants or hotels that were serving Black GIs as guests.

Schools mark Black History Month each October, but this isn’t enough to ensure that all children are given a proper education on Black history. His previous books include Black and British, which won the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize and the Longman-History Today Trustees Award, The Kaiser's Holocaust and The World's War. Even 10 years ago, if such a mainstream work as Olusoga’s had been proposed it might well have been rejected at publishers’ acquisition meetings with the note: “no commercial prospects”. It is very hard to get your head around some of the crazy things people believed about black people. In the book, Olusoga explains the overlooked history of Black people in Britain from Roman times to the present day.Ashamed at how little of this I knew before, it’s such a quick and interesting read - would highly recommend to other adults! The Black Curriculum is a social enterprise founded in 2019 by young people to address the lack of Black British history in the UK Curriculum. Evening Standard In non fiction, David Olusoga’s authoritative text has been condensed for children in Black and British: A Short, Essential History (Macmillan). Olusoga’s intentions are commendable, and his insightful reflections amount to much more than an accompanying text to a TV series. Olusoga perfectly demonstrates how Black British history could and should be taught throughout schools.

Sure, I learnt about segregation in America at A-level but was left completely in the dark about Black history in Britain throughout my entire state school education. My only criticism would be that when talking about events of the past, the author doesn’t talk enough about the general knowledge of the population at various points in history. This selection of books shows what various aspects of Roman life was like, from gladiatorial action to their religious rituals. Freedom Bird by Jerdine Nolan (Y5 planning sequence in the Literary Curriculum) would be an ideal text to teach this alongside.These and many other questions are answered in this essential introduction to 1800 years of the Black British history: from the Roman Africans who guarded Hadrian's Wall right up to the present day. David Olusoga perfectly demonstrates how important Black history is to gaining any understanding about Britain. The Voice spoke to David about why all children need to learn Black British history, the first book that helped him see himself and when he’ll know his work is done. At a time when there is huge debate aroundthe best ways to teach children about race and the history of the British Empire in the classroom, Olusoga himself describes this book as 'the book I wish I had been given to read when I was at school'.