London’s Black History is inextricably bound up with slavery. There are stories of displacement and cruelty, of people bought and sold as chattels, denied their past and any kind of future. A further injustice is that, though there had been Black Africans in London since the middle ages, in 1772 Judge Lord Mansfield estimated there were fourteen thousand slaves in England in addition to free Black men and women.

These powerful stories were effectively written out of English history. Yet despite enormous barriers, a number of Black writers were active, writing down their horrific experiences – and their ambitions for a better future for their people – in the 1700s.

This revised edition includes new material, placing the History of the Black presence in London in the context of the broader African Diaspora. Published in the run up to the 2007 Bicentenary of the British Laws banning the Atlantic Slave Trade, it highlights the role of Africans in London in the struggles against slavery.

“Power Writers uncovers and celebrates five African writers who came to London in the eighteenth century. Their work – and the journeys they took to deliver it – make extraordinary reading.” John Rennie, 'East End Life'

• 228 x 152 mm
• 64 pages
• Paperback