Patrick Vernon’s landmark ‘100 Great Black Britons’ campaign of 2003 was one of the most successful movements to focus on the role of people of African and Caribbean descent in British history. Frustrated by the widespread and continuing exclusion of the black British community from the mainstream popular conception of ‘Britishness’, despite black people having lived in Britain for over a thousand years, Vernon set up a public poll in which anyone could vote for the black Briton they most admired. The response to this campaign was incredible. As a result, a number of black historical figures were included on the national school curriculum and had statues and memorials erected and blue plaques put up in their honour. Now, with this book, Vernon and Osborne have relaunched the campaign with an updated list of names and accompanying portraits.

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The detective duo everyone is dying to meet. Summer in London is hot, the hottest on record, and there’s been a murder in THE TRI: the high-rise home to resident know-it-alls, Nik and Norva. Who better to solve the case? Armed with curiosity, home-turf knowledge and unlimited time – until the end of the summer holidays anyway.

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Welcome to Niveus Private Academy, where money paves the hallways, and the students are never less than perfect. Until now. Because anonymous texter, Aces, is bringing two students’ dark secrets to light. Talented musician Devon buries himself in rehearsals, but he can’t escape the spotlight when his private photos go public. Head girl Chiamaka isn’t afraid to get what she wants, but soon everyone will know the price she has paid for power. Someone is out to get them both. Someone who holds all the aces. And they’re planning much more than a high-school game.

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Award-winning reporter Emily Dugan follows the tumultuous lives of a group of immigrants, all facing extraordinary obstacles in their quest to live in the UK. Mihai, 29, works in construction in London and longs for a National Insurance Number. Syrian refugee Emad, 35, set up the Free Syrian League and danger in the UK became as real as it had been in Damascus. He worked illegally in London to pay for his mother to be smuggled from Turkey on a near-deadly trip across the Mediterranean – but the battle to get her into Britain has only just started. Teaching assistant Klaudia is one of many thousands of Polish people now living in Boston – itself a microcosm of poorly managed migration. Dugan’s timely and acutely observed book reveals numerous intense personal dramas of ordinary men and woman as they struggle to find somewhere to call home.

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In response to the international outcry at George Floyd’s death, Lenny Henry and Marcus Ryder have commissioned this collection of essays to discuss how and why we need to fight for Black lives to matter – not just for Black people but for society as a whole. Recognising Black British experience within the Black Lives Matter movement, seventeen prominent Black figures explain why Black lives should be celebrated when too often they are undervalued. Drawing from personal experience, they stress how Black British people have unique perspectives and experiences that enrich British society and the world; how Black lives are far more interesting and important than the forces that try to limit it.

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This beautifully illustrated volume educates and inspires as it relates true stories of black men in history. Illuminating text paired with irresistible full-colour art bring to life both iconic and lesser-known figures. Among these biographies, readers will find aviators and artists, politicians and pop culture icons. The men featured include writer James Baldwin, artist Aaron Douglas, photographer Gordon Parks, diplomat Kofi Annan, comic book author Dwayne McDuffie, and musician Prince.

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When did Africans first come to Britain? Who are the well-dressed black children in Georgian paintings? Why did the American Civil War disrupt the Industrial Revolution? These and many other questions are answered in this essential introduction to 1800 years of the Black British history: from the Roman Africans who guarded Hadrian’s Wall right up to the present day.

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A deeply felt meditation on race, sex, class and American culture told through the prism of author Margo Jefferson’s rarefied upbringing and education among Chicago’s black elite.

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Preston Black History Group; University of Central Lancashire. Research Centre for Migration, Diaspora and Exile; Institute of Black Atlantic Research. 

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