Library and Learning Resources: Black History Month: Books and Beats

See the resources that the British Library has put together to celebrate BHM 2021.

Black History Month Reading List

This list contains reading material found in our library catalogue that spans a broad range of topics relating to Black British history.

Black British History: Concepts and Debates

100 Great Black Britons by Patrick Vernon; Angelina Osborne
ISBN: 9781472144300
Publication Date: 2021-10-19
A long-overdue book honouring the remarkable achievements of key Black British individuals over many centuries, in collaboration with the 100 Great Black Britons campaign founded and run by Patrick Vernon OBE.
Back to Black by Kehinde Andrews
ISBN: 9781786992796
Publication Date: 2018-07-10
Back to Black traces the long and eminent history of Black radical politics. Born out of resistance to slavery and colonialism, its rich past encompasses figures such as Marcus Garvey, Angela Davis, the Black Panthers and the Black Lives Matter activists of today..
Black and British by David Olusoga
ISBN: 9781447299738
Publication Date: 2017-02-01
Drawing on new genetic and genealogical research, original records, expert testimony, and contemporary interviews, this history reaches back to Roman Britain, the medieval imagination, and Shakespeare's Othello.
Black British History by Hakim Adi (Editor)
ISBN: 9781786994264
Publication Date: 2019-10-15
For over 1500 years before the Empire Windrush docked on British shores, people of African descent have played a significant and far-ranging role in the country's history, from the African soldiers on Hadrian's Wall to the Black British intellectuals who made London a hub of radical, Pan-African ideas.
Brit(ish) by Afua Hirsch
ISBN: 9781784705039
Publication Date: 2019-01-01
You're British. Your parents are British. Your partner, your children and most of your friends are British. So why do people keep asking where you're from? We are a nation in denial about our imperial past and the racism that plagues our present. Brit(ish) is Afua Hirsch's personal and provocative exploration of how this came to be - and an urgent call for change.
Empire, Race and the Politics of Anti-Caste by Caroline Bressey
ISBN: 9781780935799
Publication Date: 2013-12-19
Race and the Politics of Anti-Caste provides the first comprehensive biography of Catherine Impey and her radical political magazine,

Black History Apple Playlist

Black History on Spotify

This October marks the 34th year of Black History Month in the UK. It's a commemoration that means different things to different people, but for us it is a chance to dig deeper to learn more, and to highlight the diverse stories told by classic and contemporary Black authors. Our collection starts with a podcast created by former Olympic great, Michael Johnson, who shares inspiring stories of individuals with the courage to fight for change, as well as further recommended listens.

Black History Month: Books and Beats

Black History Month Reading List

Black British History: Concepts and Debates

Black History Apple Playlist

Black History on Spotify

Books to listen to on Audible