Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Black and British: A Forgotten History / Natives / Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race: 3 Books Collection Set by Reni Eddo-Lodge, David Olusoga, Akala

8 reviews

readandfindout's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

4.25

Style/writing: 3.5 stars
Themes: 4.5 stars
Perspective: 4.5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Murder, and Colonisation

thorbrand's review against another edition

challenging informative sad slow-paced

4.0

Wow wow wow wow. Everyone should read this wonderful, informative, lively, fascinating book. I can't even imagine the amount of research that went into this book and I'm immensely grateful to Olusoga for doing it. This is definitely one that I'll revisit on future, maybe a chapter here and there to remind myself. The only thing I found difficult about it (other than some of the horrific facts and stories, obviously, of which there are many) is how long it is - not a criticism of the book at all, because it's all killer no filler and I get the impression that it could have been twice or three times as long. More a criticism of myself and my inability to stick with historical tomes - but I did it, and feel all the more informed for it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Violence, and Colonisation

Moderate: Sexual violence and Injury/Injury detail

readingelli's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative slow-paced

5.0

Brilliantly researched, very informative and well written for a lay audience. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Trafficking, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Death and War

wetsokcs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

aliceintheuk4's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

Wow. Just wow. David Olusoga has taken such an expansive and important topic and really done it justice in under 600 pages. Having watched ‘A House Through Time’ I knew he had a beautiful way of narrating the past, but this book is something else. Utterly heartbreaking, eye opening even for someone like me who considers themselves quite aware of Britain’s racist and downright evil history, Black and British is a must read for any Brit, regardless of beliefs. Such an important book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Murder, Colonisation, and War

michaelsbirthday's review against another edition

challenging informative slow-paced

4.75

A behemoth of a book, but well, well, well worth the read for anyone who wants to educate themselves on British history and the deserved place of black people within it, Britain's role in the slave trade, the abolition of slavery and the advent of modern racism.

A resounding strength of the book is the continuity that David Olusoga weaves through the vast periods of history that are covered. I  thoroughly enjoyed the discussion on attitudes in Britain and Europe towards African people during the Middle Ages, and how these views were shaped by the unreachable quality of the continent in these times. Olusoga expertly demonstrates how medieval fantasies and presumptions endured and slowly morphed into views of racial superiority in the Elizabethan and Georgian eras, through which 'scientific' theories on race and eventually modern racism could emerge.

The bulk of this mammoth text is taken up discussing the slave trade in Georgian and Victorian Britain and the abolitionist movement. Olusoga makes a compelling case for why Black British history should be viewed as a global history, exploring beyond Britain and diving into British connections to the lives and experience of black people in North America, the Caribbean and Africa (particularly Freetown, Sierra Leone).

However, I do feel that this global narrative is partly where the book falls short of all it could offer, as we lose something of the stories of black individuals and communities in this internationalised, far-reaching view. Perhaps this would not be so much of a problem if, in Olusoga's lengthy discussion on the abolitionist movement, he focused more on black actors than white; Granville Sharpe's role was of course an important one, but he rather takes the role of the 'hero' of abolitionism in Olusoga's narrative. The surviving historical record is, of course, one that has literally, deliberately and systemically been whitewashed, but perhaps a book entitled 'Black and British' ought to have more closely examined the primary record that we do have from and about black people (Olaudah Equiano's autobiography, as a readily available example).

I also feel that the book was slightly lacking at each of its historical (and physical) ends. While Olusoga painstakingly slogs through Georgian and Victorian Britain, comparatively little time is spent on black and Roman Britain, and he practically races through the decades of the 20th Century. He shares his reticence to write about modern history explicitly, particularly periods which he himself has lived through, but I still think the book could have benefitted from a deeper examination of more contemporary black British history and experience. 

Overall, the book is phenomenally well-researched, engagingly written and illuminating - and thoroughly recommended.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Slavery

Moderate: Sexual violence

Minor: Racial slurs

nell216's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective fast-paced

4.75

This was an excellent read - very readable, style wise; thoughtful and eye opening. It's a long read but well worth it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Slavery and Violence

Minor: Sexual violence

adamjeffson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Xenophobia, Police brutality, and Murder

Moderate: Death