Olivette Otele

I really wanted to—expected to—love this book. It has all the hallmarks of being an important intervention on an understudied topic. Olivette Otélé has assembled here a cast of fascinating characters—people of African descent whose lives played out in whole or in part in Europe, such as Jacobus Capitein, a Black man once enslaved who earned a degree from Leiden University with a dissertation defending slavery and who returned to West Africa as a missionary, or Joseph Boulogne, a show more virtuoso musician, fencing master, and soldier in the French Revolution. Otélé convincingly shows that Black people are an integral part of European history and societies, and have been so for a very long time.

But ultimately this book fell between two stools for me: not well-structured enough to be a strong academic text, nor narrative-driven enough to likely have much appeal for the general reader for whom it's clearly intended. For instance, there are large swathes of the book that feel like the literature review section of a dissertation. I'm absolutely fine with this being a work of synthesis rather than one grounded in original archival research—this kind of sweeping work covering a continent across millennia could hardly be written otherwise—and deeply respect Otélé's clear commitment to foregrounding the other scholars on whose work she draws, which is something that many writers of popular histories often do not do. But it does make for a dry read, particularly since Otélé at times I think assumes more familiarity with the work of these scholars, or the events they're discussing, than the average reader may have. Equally, many of the chapters seemed to lack much by way of internal structure, and whiplashed between topics/subjects.

I picked this up with an eye to assigning it at a textbook in a future course, but my reservations about structure/clarity of argument mean that I am unlikely to do so now. I will however definitely use it as a jumping off point for future reading and classroom inspiration—the triumph of African Europeans is undoubtedly in the richness and diversity of the history it portrays. show less

What was the experience of Africans who became European? Such is not normally presented as part of the historical narrative of Europe.

The author begins with Roman times and some information known regarding Africans in Europe, yet the majority of the work covers the period since the Renaissance. The story is very much tied with colonialism: the Portuguese experience, those of mixed European and African heritage in Guinea unable to fit in either in Europe or in Africa; the fate of Cameroonians show more acculturated to Germany after Germany lost its Empire; conditions for Africans in Sweden, Denmark, and the surprising celebration of Pushkin's African heritage in Russia. Much is made of the modern experience of Europeans of African descent, both of those who came to Europe in the colonial days and those who have more recently immigrated. The author gives a strong voice to those African Europeans who wish to be seen and valued in Europe as Europeans without experiencing discrimination or exoticization.

A good work which highlights aspects of European history most often neglected, and one with which Europe should grapple.

**--galley received as part of early review program show less

There was never a single mention of Blacks or Africans in my college European history classes. This book shows that Africans and dual-heritage people have been part of European history for millennia. Any chapter in this book could become a book in itself.