I'm thrilled, excited, delighted and somewhat overwhelmed that my book, Black Tudors: The Untold Story has been shortlisted for the Wolfson History Prize 2018!  This award is like the Oscars of History, with prize money of £40,000, and runners-up getting £4,000! The winner will be announced at a fancy reception at Claridges on Monday 4th June. 

There are only six books on the shortlist, so, given how many history books are published every year, it's a huge honour to be amongst them- especially as the judges are historians I greatly admire, particularly Diarmaid McCulloch, whose lectures I really loved at Oxford. It's also quite overwhelming to look back at the list of previous winners, that includes so many historians I revere.

The six books (with judges' quotes) are: 

Out of China: How the Chinese Ended the Era of Western Domination by Robert Bickers (Allen Lane, Penguin Press)
“An ambitious book delivered in an animated, accessible style. Based on an impressive sweep of archival material, with brilliant vignettes on subjects such as pre-war Shanghai, Bickers demonstrates a clarity and depth of knowledge which helps to frame modern China.”

The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister’s Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine by Lindsey Fitzharris (Allen Lane, Penguin Press)
“A serious work of research from a first-time author. Written in a lively, engaging style – and with no gruesome detail spared – Fitzharris transports her reader to the pivotal moment at which Joseph Lister transformed the worlds of science and medicine.”

A Deadly Legacy: German Jews and the Great War by Tim Grady (Yale University Press)
“A brave and brilliant history that presents a new view of the German Jewish community during the First World War. Measured in style and magisterial in quality, this accomplished account sheds light on the enormous diversity of Jewish experience.”

Black Tudors: The Untold Story by Miranda Kaufmann (Oneworld)
“A remarkable and important first book which uncovers and explores a previously neglected area of British history. Kaufmann imaginatively uses material from a range of sources to bring to life the overlooked stories of Africans in Tudor Britain.”

Heretics and Believers: A History of the English Reformation by Peter Marshall (Yale University Press)
“A beautifully judged account of the English Reformation. Marshall weaves a single narrative through a contentious century without loss of detail or depth of understanding. Full of wise and humane analysis, this is ambitious in scope and brilliant in execution.”

Heligoland: Britain, Germany and the Struggle for the North Sea by Jan Rüger (Oxford University Press)
“An engrossing and accomplished history that uses the island of Heligoland to trace the complex course of Anglo-German relations across two centuries. Rüger offers a daring account that brilliantly uses micro-history to find the bigger picture.” 

Another wonderful thing about being shortlisted is that the judges look for books that combine scholarly research with readability, or as judge Professor David Cannadine puts it, books with a 'commitment to share careful research and a deep love of their subject with as wide an audience as possible' and what Wolfson CEO Paul Ramsbottom describes as 'books that sparkle with brilliance, breaking new ground in our understanding of the past – and which are written in ways that appeal to a wide audience' -and that's exactly what I was trying to achieve with Black Tudors! 

I'll be joining BBC presenter, Professor Rana Mitter, and the other shortlisted authors for a debate about writing history and an insight into each of our books at a BBC Radio 3 Free Thinking event at the British Academy on the evening of Wednesday 9th May. You can read more about the event and book your free ticket here.
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In the meantime, wish me luck: may the best book win!

I'm really looking forward to WHBBH8 which will be at the University of Huddersfield on Thursday 10th May. As you can see from the jam-packed agenda below, there'll be lots of exciting history to discover. We'll kick off by looking at 'visitors' to Britain : first up Abigail Coppins of English Heritage on the Black Prisoners of War held at Portchester Castle in Hampshire 1793-1814. Then we'll hear about Frederick Douglass and the other Black abolitionists speaking tours in 19th century Britain- you can see how Hannah Murray has mapped their journeys on her website. The third presentation of Session One will be about Claude McKay- you can read an article Owen Walsh has written about him here.

Black British History has been inspiring some amazing theatre recently. We'll be looking at this in Session Two with presentations from Testament, author of Black Men Walking- in which members of a Black Men's walking group trek through both the Yorkshire Peaks and a thousand years of Black History in Britain; from Sharon Watson, the Artistic Director of the Phoenix Dance Theatre, talking about a new Windrush- inspired ballet; and Joe Williams discussing his theatrical response to the life of Victorian circus owner Pablo Fanque. 

An event in Huddersfield would not be complete without some local Yorkshire Black History so we'll be hearing from Audrey Dewjee, a pioneer of the field, John Ellis who's been researching Black British Soldiers in the 18th and 19th centuries, Jeff Green on Black Victorians in Huddersfield, and Milton Brown taking us right up to the present day.

We'll then have a brief interlude in which Corinne Fowler, Director of the Centre for New Writing at the University of Leicester tells us a bit about the exciting new Colonial Countryside project, which will be looking at connections between National Trust houses, Caribbean slavery and the East India Company. 

The final session of the day will be exploring the musical legacies of slavery in Britain- from blackface minstrelry, to black British jazz in Tiger Bay via the slavery profits invested into musical patronage in 18th century Britain. 

As usual we'll end with a Drinks Reception, with the added bonus of this segueing into the opening of the Let's Play Vinyl photography exhibition, celebrating a new generation of UK sound systems.  

So all in all, it's looking to be an exciting and stimulating day- look forward to seeing you there!

To book, click here.


What's Happening in Black British History? VIII
Workshop Agenda
10:00 Registration

10:30           Welcome
                    Sue Onslow Acting Director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies
 

10:40            Session One   Black 'visitors' to Britain

Chair            Miranda Kaufmann
 
‘The Honour of the Nation’: Black Prisoners of War at Portchester Castle, 1793-1814
Abigail Coppins (English Heritage)
‘With Almost Electric Speed’: Mapping Black Abolitionists in Britain                
Hannah Rose Murray (University of Nottingham)
The “English Inning” of Claude McKay, Transnational Writer and Socialist     
Owen Walsh (University of Leeds)

12:00         Coffee Break

12:15           Session Two  Black British History on stage

Chair           Michael Ohajuru
 
Reflections on Black Men Walking                 
Testament (writer, rapper and world record holding beatboxer)
Movement of the People: A journey through the development of Windrush: Performance and people
Sharon Watson (Phoenix Dance Theatre)
Pablo Fanque: pomp, pageantry and race in Victorian Circus
Joe Williams (University of Leeds, Heritage Corner, Leeds)

 13:30          Lunch

 14:30          Session Three Black British History in Yorkshire
Chair           Tosh Warwick
 
Here From Time:  Stories from Yorkshire's Black History.               
Audrey Dewjee (Independent researcher, Diasporian Stories Research Group)
Soldiers of African origin in British Army Regiments in England and Yorkshire, 1700s to 1840s.          
John Ellis (Historian and Teacher)
British-born African Caribbean descendants in West Yorkshire, navigating race and identity from the 1960s to present               
Milton Brown (University of Huddersfield, Kirklees Local TV)
My Search For Black British History: Black Americans In Victorian Huddersfield                 
Jeffrey Green (Independent Historian)
 

 16:00        Coffee Break

 16:15         Colonial Countryside: Reinterpreting English Country Houses
                   Corinne Fowler (University of Leicester)
 
                   Session Four  The musical legacies of slavery in Britain
Chair         Paul Ward
 
Blackface minstrelsy and Black Studies
Rachel Cowgill (University of Huddersfield)
The Use of the Profits of Slavery to Support Musical Activity in Eighteenth-century Britain and its Colonies
David Hunter (University of Texas at Austin)
Tiger Bay and the roots/routes of black British Jazz
Catherine Tackley (University of Liverpool)
 

 17:40         Reception/ Opening of Let’s Play Vinyl Exhibition

Following the success of our previous events in London, Liverpool, Bristol and Preston we would like to invite you to the eighth of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies’ Black British History Workshops (WHBBH8) at the University of Huddersfield, on Thursday 10th May 2018.The aim of the series is to foster a creative dialogue between researchers, educationalists (mainstream and supplementary), artists and writers, archivists and curators, and policy makers. It seeks to identify and promote innovative new research into the history of people of African origin or descent in the UK and facilitate discussion of the latest developments in the dissemination of Black British history in a wide variety of settings including the media, the classroom and lecture hall, and museums and galleries, thus providing an opportunity to share good practice.

We welcome proposals for papers and presentations on a wide variety of themes relating to the history of people of African origin or descent in the UK. As this is the 70th anniversary of the arrival of the Windrush we are particularly keen to receive papers on the Windrush Generation and their impact on Britain. As we will be in Huddersfield local and regional or family histories from Huddersfield and the North of England would also be welcome.

We would be delighted to hear from researchers, educationalists, archivists and curators or others interested in offering a presentation, lasting for 15-20 minutes. Please submit a title and a brief description of your presentation either in writing (in which case, of no more than 300 words) or in some other form (for example a clip or podcast) to Dr. Miranda Kaufmann at [email protected] by  16th March 2018.

In addition, we would be happy to consider proposals for a complete panel. The panel should have a coherent unifying theme, and the proposal should include the abstracts of three related presentations and the names and affiliations of the presenters. We would also be interested in providing A-level students, undergraduates or graduate students with an opportunity to give presentations on projects relating to Black British History.
The day will run from 11am to 6.00pm, followed by a Reception. There will be a registration fee of £20 (£10 for students/unwaged) to cover the costs of lunch and refreshments. A limited number of travel bursaries will be available to independent speakers on application. Requests to register should be sent to [email protected].

Book now to attend "What's Happening in Black British History? VII"! #WHBBH7 is the seventh in the Institute of Commonwealth Studies series that I co-convene with Michael Ohajuru exploring the history of peoples of African origin and descent in Britain. 

The day will feature a keynote speech by broadcaster, historian and author David Olusoga, author of Black and British: A Forgotten History. This will be part of a great line-up of engaging, informed speakers, with sessions on:  Broadcasting Black British History; What do young people see happening in Black British History? and Imagination and Reality: Africans in Sixteenth Century Britain.  

WHBBH7 will be held at Senate House, London on Thursday 26th October, 10.30am-6.30pm. The full programme and event details are available on the Institute of Commonwealth Studies website. You can book your place here. 

​I'm beyond excited to present the finished cover for my forthcoming book, Black Tudors: The Untold Story which will be published in the UK on 5th October 2017 and in the USA on 14th November 2017.

And truly honoured by this review:

‘Intricately researched and brilliantly written… alive with human details and warmth. Black Tudors is a critical book that allows us to better understand an era of our national past that fascinates us like no other.’ - DAVID OLUSOGA 

It's already available for pre-order on Amazon, and some kind friends say they have already bought their copies!

You can read more about the book here, or meet the ten African men and women featured here.

I'm taking a break over the summer, but will be back in force in the autumn to promote the book, so watch this space for details of my talks –I'm already booked to speak at the BBC History Weekends in Winchester (Sun 8 October) and York (Saturday 25 November)– or get in touch if you'd like to invite me to speak about my work at your local venue.

Less than a month to go now until our next What’s Happening in Black British History? workshop, which will be held at The Institute for Black Atlantic Research, University of Central Lancashire, Preston on Thursday 16th March, 11am-6pm. 

I'm really looking forward to the keynote from historian and author Professor Gretchen Gerzina on Why Black British History Matters: An American Perspective. You may have heard her recent BBC Radio 4 series, Britain's Black Past- still available to listen to on iPlayer. 

We've got an action packed programme as usual, with sessions on: Beyond the Margins: Diverse Black Histories in Britain;  Fathers’ Migration Stories and Black British Experiences of War.

Have a read of what's on offer and then book your place here. 

Looking forward to seeing you there!


WHBBH6 Programme
10.30- 11.00    Registration: tea & coffee
11.00-12.30     Session One: Beyond the Margins: Diverse Black Histories in Britain

            Chair: Alan Rice (IBAR)

Alan Rice (IBAR), Vagrant Presences and Reparative Histories: Lost Children, The Black Atlantic and Northern Britain

Corinne Fowler (University of Leicester), How Writers Can Public Raise Awareness of the Black Histories of Britain's Countryside and Why It Matters

Theresa Saxon (IBAR), Ira Aldridge in Britain

Raphael Hoermann (IBAR), “The fate of St. Domingo awaits you”: The Haitian Revolution and the Haitian Gothic with White and Black British Radicals, 1804-1819
12.30-1.30 Session Two: Fathers’ Migration Stories

           Chair: Miranda Kaufmann

Hannah Lowe (Kingston University) Ormonde: Post-War Caribbean Migration through Poetry

SuAndi and Jackie Ould (AfroSolo UK) My Father Always Wore A Dunhill Hat

1.30- 2.30                    Lunch

2.30- 4.00 Session Three: Black British Experiences of War

           Chair: Sean Creighton

John Siblon (Birkbeck College), First World War Memorials of African, Asian and Caribbean Colonial servicemen in Britain

Melissa Bennett (University of Warwick), Deciphering photographs of black military bodies prior to World War One

Lauren Darwin (African Stories in Hull and East Yorkshire), “You black men are not wanted in this country”: Exploring the dichotomy between the experience of Black sailors before, during and after World War One in Hull.

4.00-4.30                     Tea/coffee

4.30- 5.30        Keynote address: Professor Gretchen Gerzina ((University of Massachusetts, Amherst) Why Black British History Matters: An American Perspective

5.30- 6.30                   Final Thoughts and Conclusions

             Chair: Michael Ohajuru

Panel: Alan Rice, Elizabeth Burke, Gretchen Gerzina 

 6.30 -7.30                    Reception

On Monday morning I headed to Broadcasting House to talk about 'Black Tudor and Stuart Seafarers', which was the title of the talk I was giving to the Maritime History Seminar run by the National Maritime Museum at the Institute of Historical Research the following evening.

I was interviewed by Robert Elms on his BBC Radio London 94.9FM show! 

Hopefully I'll get to go back in October when my book, Black Tudors, comes out...

Following the success of our previous events in London, Liverpool, and Bristol, we would like to invite you to the sixth of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies’ What’s Happening  in Black British History Workshops (WHBBH6) at The Institute for Black Atlantic Research, University of Central Lancashire, on Thursday 16th March 2017.

The Keynote Speaker will be Professor Gretchen Gerzina (University of Massachusetts, Amherst), author of Black England: Life Before Emancipation (1995) and presenter of the recent BBC Radio 4 series, Britain’s Black Past.

The aim of the series is to foster a creative dialogue between researchers, educationalists (mainstream and supplementary), artists and writers, archivists and curators, and policy makers. It seeks to identify and promote innovative new research into the history of people of African origin or descent in the UK, and facilitate discussion of the latest developments in the dissemination of Black British history in a wide variety of settings including the media, the classroom and lecture hall, and museums and galleries, thus providing an opportunity to share good practice.

We welcome proposals for papers and presentations on a wide variety of themes relating to the history of people of African origin or descent in the UK. For WHBBH6, we would be particularly interested to receive papers which explore the local histories of the Black people in Britain outside London; are related to the histories of World War One and World War Two; or reflect the artistic and cultural focus of the Institute for Black Atlantic Research.
We would be delighted to hear from researchers, educationalists, archivists and curators or others interested in offering a presentation, lasting for 15-20 minutes. Please submit a title and a brief description of your presentation either in writing (in which case, of no more than 300 words) or in some other form (for example a clip or podcast) to Dr. Miranda Kaufmann at [email protected] by 31st January 2017.

In addition, we would be happy to consider proposals for a complete panel. The panel should have a coherent unifying theme, and the proposal should include the abstracts of three related presentations and the names and affiliations of the presenters. We would also be interested in providing A-level students, undergraduates or graduate students with an opportunity to give presentations on projects relating to Black British History.

The day will run from 11am to 6.00pm, followed by a Reception. There will be a registration fee of £20 (£10 for students/unwaged) to cover the costs of lunch and refreshments. A limited number of travel bursaries will be available to independent speakers on application. Requests to register should be sent to Olga Jimenez at [email protected].

Download WHBBH6 CFP

Really looking forward to the fifth in our series of Black British History workshops!

It will be held on Thursday 27th October 2016, from 10.00-7.15 in the Wolfson Room,  at the Institute of Historical Research, Senate House.

Our keynote speaker will be Kehinde Andrews, a lead member of the team delivering the UK's first BA course in Black Studies at Birmingham City University. 

We've got some great panels too. The first Beyond Mary Prince: Black Women in Dialogue will be delivered by students from  the MA course in Black British Writing at Goldsmiths, University of London. Then we've got Recovering and Engaging the Public with Black British Histories- where we'll hear from those who are finding histories to bring to the public, in exhibitions at the Black Cultural Archives and Epping Forest, and in novels and interactive presentations for young people. The third session, Identity and Involvement in Doing Justice to Black British History in Schools will be brought to us by a group of teachers involved with the excellent Justice2History project, who some of you might remember from WHBBH1. 

It's going to be great. You can read the full agenda below, and Register here.

Hope to see you there!


WHBBH5 Agenda

Thursday 27th October

Wolfson Room, Institute of Historical Research, Senate House.

10.00- 10.30 Registration: tea & coffee

10.30-11.00 Keynote address: Professor Kehinde Andrews (Birmingham City University)

11.00-12.30 Session One: Beyond Mary Prince: Black Women in Dialogue
Chair: Deirdre Osborne (Reader in English Literature and Drama, Goldsmiths, University of London)
Kareena Chin (MA Student, Goldsmiths), Mary Prince, Censorship and Publication
Heather Marks (MA Student, Goldsmiths), Women and Windrush
Heather Goodman (MA Student, Goldsmiths), Millennial Voices Janet Sebastian
Vanessa Igho (MA Students, Goldsmiths) The MA in Black British Writing: From Fiction to Fact

12.30-1.15 Lunch

1.15-3.00 Session Two: Recovering and Engaging the Public with Black British Histories
Chair: Professor Philip Murphy (Director of the Institute of Commonwealth )
Munira Mohamed (Learning Manager, Black Cultural Archives) and Monique Baptiste-Brown (Communications and Marketing Manager,Black Cultural Archives), Reclaiming heritage: Black Cultural Archives’ methodology for curating living heritage and evaluating the recent co-curated exhibition, Rastafari in Motion
Kate Morrison (Writer & Visiting Scholar, Book, Text and Place 1500 – 1750 Research Centre, Bath Spa University) ‘Go back & fetch what you forgot': building a fictional character from the archives
Grace Quansah (Director, WAPPY: Writing, Acting & Publishing Project for Youngsters)Empowering Young Voices to Explore Heritage
Sophie Lillington (Museum & Heritage Manager, Epping Forest, City of London Corporation),Down in the Forest: a first foray into Black History

3.00-3.30 Tea/coffee

3.30-5.00 Session Three: Identity and Involvement in Doing Justice to Black British History in Schools
Chairs: Abdul Mohamud and Robin Whitburn (Justice2History)
Sharon Aninakwa, (Head of History at the Convent of Jesus and Mary Language College, Harlesden) Black Women in History and the School
Thabo Stuck (History teacher, The BRIT School for performing arts, Croydon). Becoming a ‘Choreographer’: challenges to doing justice to history
André Burton (PGCE student, Institute of Education, UCL) The importance of Black British History and the struggle for education in 21st century London

5. 15-6.15 Final Thoughts and Conclusions Panel 
Chair: Dr Miranda Kaufmann (Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Commonwealth Studies)

6.15-7.15 Reception
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Registration is now open Register here