Black London: Life Before Emancipation
by Gretchen Gerzina
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Description
"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 show more 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"--Publisher's description. show lessTags
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Author Information
6+ Works 590 Members
Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina is a professor of English at Barnard College, Columbia University, and an honorary fellow at the University of Exeter.
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1995
- People/Characters
- Samuel Johnson; Granville Sharp; Dido Elizabeth Belle
- Important places
- London, England, UK
- Original language
- English
- Disambiguation notice
- Published as Black England (UK) and as Black London (US).
Classifications
- Genres
- History, Nonfiction, Anthropology, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 305.896 — Society, Government, and Culture Social sciences, sociology & anthropology Social group - Age, Gender, Ethnicity Ethnic and national groups Other ethnic and national groups Africans and people of African descent; Blacks of African origin
- LCC
- DA676.9 .B55 .G47 — History of Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania Great Britain History of Great Britain England Local history and description London
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 148
- Popularity
- 220,515
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (4.04)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 7
- ASINs
- 3
