Black England

In the 1990s, an assistant in a London bookshop informed the African American historian Gretchen Gerzina that there “were no black people in England before 1945”. Gerzina effectively disproved that assertion by going on to write the classic book on black people in Georgian London, Black England * Guardian *Wonderfully vivid, multifaceted and engrossing … this book brings history alive Black England taught me more history than I ever learned at school. This book helped me to understand the history that my generation are making now. To say that it is groundbreaking is stating the obvious. Black England is part of our canon. With books like this to guide us, we are unstoppable. Gretchen Gerzina tells it as it was, so we know how it is. Black England is a book that will be relevant for everA classic that deserves to be read … indeed, needs to be read, Black England is deeply researched, lucidly written and utterly fascinating. If you ever thought Black British history began with Windrush, read this book - this is a story we should all knowGerzina brings the world of the Black Georgians to intriguing life, introducing us to the era’s most fascinating individuals while placing them in the wider story of the struggle against enslavement. It is a treat to have a pioneer of the field bring together all the latest scholarship to tell this important part of British history for a wide audienceThe admirable clarity of Black England should win it many admirers. Gerzina’s book should take its rightful place alongside the work of her predecessorsBlack England is well-researched, with interesting quotes throughout and has a number of ‘I didn’t know that!’ moments as Gerzina throws up surprising snippets of information, such as the existence of an entirely black brothel in London catering for the nobility … charting the progress of the anti-slavery moment in England, Gerzina highlights the mixed and often murky motives held by white abolitionists who are often less altruistic than might be expected. This is echoed in Zadie Smith’s passionate and insightful foreword * Morning Star *

GRETCHEN GERZINA is the Paul Murray Kendall Chair in Biography, and Professor of English, at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. A tenured professor at Vassar College and Barnard College, Columbia University, she was also the Kathe Tappe Vernon Professor of Biography at Dartmouth College where she was the first black woman to chair an Ivy League English Department. In addition, she was the Eastman Professor at Oxford University (Balliol College), Professor at Brunel University, and has directed three academic programs in African American Studies. She has written several acclaimed books including Carrington, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Mr and Mrs Prince. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Antiquarian Society, and appears often on radio and podcasts in Britain and America. She divides her time between Northampton, Massachusetts and Brooklyn, New York.

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