arachan's review
emotional
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
4.75
A very refreshing and direct book that challenges the idea that Victorian England was White.
This is a very comphrehensive take on the world that Black Victorians lived in and shaped. The only complaint is that, due the scope of the book, there isn't enough detail on the various characters because there isn't much time to spend on every charcter in the detail I would have wanted to. That minor complaint aside, the book is detailed, engaging and comphrensive.
This is a very comphrehensive take on the world that Black Victorians lived in and shaped. The only complaint is that, due the scope of the book, there isn't enough detail on the various characters because there isn't much time to spend on every charcter in the detail I would have wanted to. That minor complaint aside, the book is detailed, engaging and comphrensive.
dogearedtatty's review
3.0
I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review. I was interested to read this because of the title - I’ve always been interested in the lesser known parts of history. This book gives us an overview of several Black Victorians, from actors and writers, to slaves/freed, activists, high society, etc., grouped into themes such as politics. At times, I felt the “academic” lens dominated a bit, overshadowing the people it was writing about - I was hoping for a more accessible style which would tell me more about the people themselves, than an academic essay tone which was harder to follow for me personally. That’s why I gave it 3 stars rather than 4.
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