Black England
A Forgotten Georgian History
by Gretchen Gerzina
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Pub Date 29 Sep 2022 | Archive Date 29 Sep 2022
John Murray Press | John Murray
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Description
'This book brings history alive' BERNADINE EVARISTO
WITH A BRAND NEW FOREWORD FROM ZADIE SMITH
'Black England is a book that will be relevant for ever' BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH
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The idea that Britain became a mixed-race country after 1945 is a common mistake. Georgian England had a large and distinctive Black community. Whether prosperous citizens or newly freed slaves, they all ran the risk of kidnap and sale to plantations. Black England tells their dramatic, often moving stories.
In the eighteenth century, Black people could be found in clubs and pubs, there were special churches, Black-only balls and organisations for helping Black people who were out of work or in trouble. Many were famous and respected: most notably Francis Barber, Doctor Johnson's beloved manservant; Ignatius Sancho, a correspondent of Laurence Sterne; Francis Williams, a Cambridge scholar, and Olaudah Equiano whose Interesting Narrative went into multiple editions. But far more were ill-paid and ill-treated servants or beggars, despite having served Britain in war and on the seas. For alongside the free world there was slavery, from which many of these Black Britons had escaped.
The triumphs and tortures of Black England, the Ambivalent relations between the races, sometimes tragic, sometimes heart-warming, are brought to life in this wonderfully readable history. Black England explores a fascinating chapter of our shared past, a chapter that has been ignored too long.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781399804882 |
| PRICE | £20.00 (GBP) |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Ben D, Reviewer
First published in 1995 and now updated, Gretchen Gerzina's Black England is just as important as when it was first released. Reading a review copy in 2022 was the first time I had heard of this work, and it saddens me that I had not heard of it earlier. The stories, histories, and voices that make up this exemplary historical study should be taught in schools. I learned more in the few hours it took me to read this book than I have the rest of the year so far, perhaps even for years, and I read widely! So many of the names of the white figures here I knew facts about, but with very few exceptions, the black figures were all new to me. This should not be the case.
This is vital, important history. Its focus is centred on the 18th century more than any other - which is not surprising as black voices earlier than this have become lost to time, so it is only through others work that we know any names - but the narrative takes us from Elizabeth I's reign through to the abolition of the slave trade. It highlights the mass injustices black people suffered during these years, but also shows how some of the attitudes of those days remain into the present. To read that 18th century white Englishmen were afraid that the blacks were taking our jobs reminded me of our gutter press in the 21st century who stoke xenophobia using the same rhetoric. For reasons like this alone, works like this should be on the curriculum from an early age.
This is a magnificent work and I am extremely grateful to the publishers and Netgalley for the ARC and to Gretchen Gerzina for updating this work and sharing it with us all.
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