Staying Power

This classic text is the most comprehensive and extensively researched history of black people in Britain. The sections on the black radicals of the 18^th and 19^th century are a must as is Fryer’s demolition of British establishment attempts to rewrite themselves as the moral and legal vanguard in the abolition of slavery. Fryer’s social history not only enlightens us about individual black political figures in this process but also covers such disparate groups as boxers, musicians and soldiers amongst others. If you read one chapter, then read ‘The rise of English racism’. This is probably the best analysis of institutional racism and its economic/political drivers I have ever read. A brilliant source text and vital resource for discovering the real black history of Britain (BRHG).