David Olusoga's books: a complete guide
David Olusoga is a British-Nigerian historian, author, presenter and BAFTA winning film-maker. Here's our guide to his books.
David Olusoga is Professor of Public History at Manchester University and known for his award-winning television series and films, including A House Through Time and Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners. He's also the author of several groundbreaking history books, including editions specially written for children. Read on for a guide to David Olusoga's books.
Black and British
by David Olusoga
Unflinching, confronting taboos, and revealing hitherto unknown scandals, Black and British describes how the lives of black and white Britons have been entwined for centuries: vivid confirmation that black history cannot and should not be kept separate. Taking us from Roman Britain to the present day via the medieval imagination, Elizabethan ‘blackamoors’ and the global slave-trading empire, Olusoga shows that the great industrial boom of the nineteenth century was built on American slavery, and that black Britons fought at Trafalgar and in the trenches of both World Wars. Originally published in 2016, this most recent edition is fully revised and updated and includes a new chapter on the Windrush scandal and Black Lives Matter protests of 2020.
Black and British: editions for younger readers
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? From Roman Africans guarding Hadrian’s Wall, to an African trumpeter in the court of Henry the Eighth, Black Georgians fighting for the abolition of slavery, Black soldiers fighting for Britain in the First World War, Windrush and the present day, David Olusoga has produced two brilliant children's books based on his award-winning Black and British. An Illustrated History for ages 8 – 11 and A Short, Essential History for ages 12+.
A House Through Time
by David Olusoga and Melanie Backe-Hansen
Based on the BBC television series, A House Through Time offers readers the tools they need to discover the history of their own homes, alongside an evocative history of the British city. A home is both an insight into the deeply personal – the place where real, unfiltered life is lived – and the universal: by tracing the journey of one single house, we can watch the rises and falls and shifts in fortune of entire neighbourhoods and indeed whole cities. Packed with remarkable human stories, David Olusoga and Melanie Backe-Hansen give us a phenomenal insight into living history, a history we can see every day on the streets where we live.