Disappointing

I was looking forward to this book as I love history but I found it didn’t hold my interest.
I didn’t enjoy the narration which made me feel I was in a boring lecture.
The stories had the potential of being so interesting but the individuals got lost in all the dealings going on around them. I understand that there is scant information about some of them but I felt they became secondary to other characters and events.

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Fascinating history with lofty white narration

Fascinating history of black history in Tudor times let down by a white, lofty and aristocratic reading by the narrator.

Some very difficult words to the modern ear abound and should come with a warning at the start of the book this is unsuitable for playing in public and may be upsetting - earphones delivery is recommended.

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Important but disappointing

This is a thoroughly researched work, but could have been much shorter and more dynamic.

There is a lot of unnecessary detail, with only tenuous links to the subjects. It may give a little background but feels like padding.

Each chapter begins as if from the subject's viewpoint. This is supposition, not history.

Unfortunately the narrator didn't help - I felt like I was sitting in a primary school class, being talked down to, especially when there were quotations - all read with a "pantomime baron" voice.

It's a shame - it is important that this subject is written and talked about - but this is not an engaging piece.

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Refreshing

The history is not just about slavery. It is so much more. Educated Thank you

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3 people found this helpful

Excellent in every way.

I knew very little about this subject but I am so glad that I read this book as it opened up a whole new world for me.

Excellent scholarship and accessible writing produced an interesting and enlightening story of the lives of several black men and women who led successful lives in an England where slavery did not exist. Some had lowly and perhaps despised lives as sex workers but others ran their own businesses and learned trades. Many led respectable married lives and produced children. Some were associated with the gentry or aristocracy and some were called upon to serve royalty. All of them were unique and talented in their own way and many led adventurous lives.

The book left me with many questions such as why it was not possible for England to continue in this enlightened fashion; perhaps if it had there would not be the societal problems in today's troubled world.

I thoroughly recommend this book which was well narrated and kept my attention all the way through.

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2 people found this helpful

Forgotten history of Black people in England.

Thoroughly researched and revealing history of Black people living freely in England during Tudor times. For some reason the chapter titles do not line up with the narrative, which is a bit disconcerting. Apart from that, would recommend to any one interested in English history, not just from a Black perspective.

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1 person found this helpful

Fascinating and beautifully written

A really excellent book, hugely well-informed (the author has a doctorate from Oxford on the subject), and full of human interest. I listened to the whole thing in about two days.

Aside from its main subject matter, the book is also full of great little facts (e.g., the exact % of cows bequeather in wills, who are mentioned by name)

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14 people found this helpful

A fantastic book; so much unknown history

What a brilliant book!

Kaufmann takes 10 people of African origin who we know were in Tudor England and uses them to riff about various aspects of life, including music and politics in the court, religion and belonging, trade across the emerging world, and day-to-day life of a rural dairymaid.

Whilst it is a book about different races in 16-century England (the main point being that people were much less bothered about skin colour than they were about religion), it also opens a realistic window on life at that time.

However, the narrator had some annoying pronunciation habits (according to her, 'coif' = 'quiff' and 'Mainwaring' ≠ 'Mannering'), which was surprising from someone with an otherwise RP and clear voice. I also found her rather slow, but this was easily sorted by listening to it at x1.1 speed.

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4 people found this helpful

Chapter markers don't match up with audio

Outside of the huge amount of opinion or pondering from the author rather than being grounded in fact and overlooking the whole "trying to alleviate white guilt vibe" of the book, the audiobook chapters don't synch up the audio, ie. Audibook Chapter 2 is actually reading out Chapter 1 and at least Chapters 9 & 10 are actually in the audio end credits Chapter.

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