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Tribes

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Tribes

By: David Lammy
Narrated by: David Lammy
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About this listen

David was the first black Briton to study at Harvard Law School and practised as a barrister before entering politics. He has served as the Member of Parliament for Tottenham since 2000. Today, David is one of Parliament's most prominent and successful campaigners for social justice.

He led the campaign for Windrush British citizens to be granted British citizenship and has been at the forefront of the fight for justice for the families affected by the Grenfell Tower fire.

In 2007, inspired by the bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act and looking to explore his own African roots, David Lammy took a DNA test. Ostensibly he was a middle-aged husband and father, MP for Tottenham and a die-hard Spurs fan. But his nucleic acids revealed that he was 25 percent Tuareg tribe (Niger), 25 percent Temne tribe (Sierra Leone), 25 percent Bantu tribe (South Africa), with 5 percent traces of Celtic Scotland and a mishmash of other unidentified groups.

Both memoir and call to arms, Tribes explores both the benign and malign effects of our need to belong. How this need - genetically programmed and socially acquired - can manifest itself in positive ways, collaboratively achieving great things that individuals alone cannot. And yet how, in recent years, globalisation and digitisation have led to new, more pernicious kinds of tribalism. This book is a fascinating and perceptive analysis of not only the way the world works but also the way we really are.

Shortlisted for the Parliamentary Book Awards: Best Non-Fiction by a Parliamentarian

©2019 David Lammy (P)2019 Hachette Audio UK
Modern Politicians Politics & Activism Politics & Government Africa Social justice Law School Socialism Capitalism

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All stars
Most relevant
This is, at times a bit repetitive and verbose but it is a very well argued book with some good coverage of political and social history.
The postscript is by far the best part of the book.
Recommended at a difficult time when we were exhausted from the internal fights of Brexit and have now come into a pandemic. This is a book about hope for a better future for us all at a time that we sorely need it.

A sorely needed book

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This is a very good book about modern Britain and the world. David Lammy set out ideas for improvement in our world that hopefully will command widespread agreement. The book is well read.

Excellent book.

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Great ideas. Hopeful view of politics. Thank you. A new fresh and a personal perspective.

Great ideas. Hopeful view of politics. Thank you

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This book is one of the most accessible insights into some of the most divisive issues facing the world today that I have come across.

It’s particular focus on UK and English politics, specifically in addressing our lurch to tribal tendencies post Brexit is positive, and seeks permanent change through what appear to be logical and well argued historical and current examples.

I would commend it to anyone who wants to understand why we are the way we are, and is not scared of hearing views contrary to their own. It is well written, not overly partisan, and always recognises the other side of the argument, but, crucially, is not afraid of addressing the most topical and contentious issues facing us today.

Best book I have read in years. Genuinely - I was surprised.

An optimistic, grounded and convincing map for the future

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thought provoking, easy to listen to, positive, forward thinking, insightful and brutally honest.
Great book. loved it.

This should be taught and discussed in schools

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