Black History Month is celebrated every October in the UK, highlighting experiences, achievements & contributions that are too often overlooked. At Boydell we are proud to publish books that honour the richness & significance of black history. Find a selection here and enjoy a special discount throughout October.
Ngugi
Reflections on his Life of Writing
Edited by Simon Gikandi and Ndirangu Wachanga
First-hand accounts of how Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s life and work have intersected, and the multiple forces that have converged to make him one of the greatest writers to come out of Africa in the twentieth century.
“The many considerations of Ngugi’s work compiled here have produced a remarkable book, one which demonstrates the vastness of his influences [.]” JOHANNESBURG REVIEW OF BOOKS
Africans in East Anglia, 1467-1833
by Richard C. Maguire
Examines the population of Africans in Norfolk and Suffolk from 1467, the date of the first documented reference to an African in the region, to 1833, when Parliament voted to abolish slavery in the British Empire. It uncovers the complexity of these Africans’ historical experience, considering the interaction of local custom, class structure, tradition and memory. Although the racialised ideas underpinning Atlantic slavery changed the social circumstances of Africans in the region, the initial regional response to arriving Africans during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was not defined exclusively by ideas relating to skin colour. Rather, they were influenced by local understandings of religious status, class position, ideas about freedom and bondage, and immediate local circumstances.
The Critical Life of Toni Morrison
by Susan Neal Mayberry
The first book to trace the critical reception of the great African American woman writer, attending not only to her fiction but to her nonfiction and critical writings.
“There is nothing quite like this study on the market. It will be an extremely helpful reference work for anyone writing about Toni Morrison.” Keith Byerman, Indiana State University, author of Remembering the Past in Contemporary African American Fiction
A Companion to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Edited by Ernest N. Emenyonu
A critical examination of the engaging voice and multiple stories of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie on war, feminism, art, ideology, hair, complex human identities and the challenges of multicultural existence.
“Whether you are an ardent Adichie lover or a novice to her world of literature, this book is equipped to be a beacon of light as you devour the words to make sense of the world.” African Studies Quarterly
Fighting for Britain
African Soldiers in the Second World War
by David Killingray
The first major study of the experiences of the hundreds of thousands of African soldiers who served with the British army during the Second World War.
“David Killingray’s fascinating new book sets out in compelling prose and finely researched detail the extraordinary story of Africa’s stalwart and generous support of the Empire’s most perilous of wars.” TLS
“An important scholarly contribution, but which, with its sweeping introduction and engaging style, can be read by all for pleasure and profit.” BBC HISTORY
Opposing Apartheid on Stage
King Kong the Musical
by Tyler Fleming
A captivating account of an interracial jazz opera that took apartheid South Africa by storm and marked a turning point in the nation’s cultural history.
“Fleming’s exposition is an opportunity to explore the history of prize fighting, racial discrimination with the rise of apartheid, urbanization, cross-racial artistic collaborations, and exile. This is an extraordinarily rich and ambitious work, and quite unlike anything in recent African historiography. . . . Opposing Apartheid on Stage is a spectacular achievement and a pleasure to read.” African Studies Review
West African Soldiers in Britain’s Colonial Army, 1860-1960
by Timothy Stapleton
British colonial rule in West Africa would have been impossible without the service of locally recruited soldiers within a colonial army. Challenging many stereotypes regarding this force, West African Soldiers explores this complex, ambiguous, and constantly changing military organization. Emphasizing the experience of the African rank-and-file who worked within a racially hierarchical colonial army, this work looks at the broad themes of identity, culture, daily life, and violence. This study derives from extensive archival research in the United Kingdom, Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and the Gambia.
7 Books to Read on Maritime History