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  • What's in a Name?

  • Friendship, Identity and History in Modern Multicultural Britain
  • By: Sheela Banerjee
  • Narrated by: Sheela Banerjee
  • Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
  • 5.0 out of 5 stars (4 ratings)

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What's in a Name? cover art

What's in a Name?

By: Sheela Banerjee
Narrated by: Sheela Banerjee
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Summary

A sharp and timely examination of Britain's history, through the prism of something intimate and everyday - everyone's name tells a story, no matter how ordinary

'Our names reveal a multitude of stories, reveal feelings, states of consciousness and lost histories that embody who we really are and where we come from... This is a personal journey to reveal the worlds which gave rise to what we are called.'

Our names are so mundane that we barely notice them. Yet each contains countless stories of tradition and belonging - be that a legacy of colonialism or persecution, the desire to fit in, or the complex cultural inheritance from one's parents.

In What's in a Name?, Sheela Banerjee unravels the personal histories of friends and family through their names. And while tracing their heritage across centuries and continents - from west London to British India, and from 1960s Jamaica to pre-Revolutionary Russia - Sheela also tells the story of twentieth-century immigration to the UK.

Blending history, memoir and politics, What's in a Name? is a celebration of Britain's rich multiculturalism, an ode to friendship and a testament to all the stories held within our names.

©2023 Sheela Banerjee (P)2023 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

What listeners say about What's in a Name?

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Beautiful narration

Beautiful narration of a fascinating book. Part memoir, part social and political history, Sheela Banerjee traces personal and political history by pulling on the threads of names and their meanings. Just brilliant.

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A thought-provoking book, beautifully narrated.

Family, culture, immigration, racism, politics. Names lost and names found.

Narrated by the author, these personal stories are very powerful.

I'll be going back for a second listen.

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Amazing book

Very interesting and informative
Really enjoyed this
Beautifully narrated as well
Thank you Sheela- just fab.

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