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Britons Through Negro Spectacles
Britons Through Negro Spectacles

Britons Through Negro Spectacles

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Black Britain Writing Back

SOCIAL SCIENCE

272 Pages, 5.06 x 7.81

Formats: Trade Paper

Trade Paper, $19.95 (US $19.95)

Publication Date: September 2022

ISBN 9780241559741

Rights: US

Penguin Random House UK (Sep 2022)
Penguin

Price: $19.95
 
 

Overview

A riotous, witty travelogue documenting the author's experiences in Britain in the early 1900s, from an African perspective

In Britons Through Negro Spectacles Merriman-Labor takes us on a joyous, intoxicating tour of London at the turn of the 20th century. Slyly subverting the colonial gaze usually placed on Africa, he introduces us to the citizens, culture and customs of Britain with a mischievous glint in his eye. This incredible work of social commentary feels a century ahead of its time, and provides unique insights into the intersection between empire, race and community at this important moment in history.

Reviews

"Britons camouflages its radical ideas with jokes, puns, satire, burlesque, and lampoon. It describes a walk around London with Merriman-Labor acting as a guide to a newly arrived African friend. As they pass landmarks, observe people, and discuss British manners, the city’s famous clocks toll, marking the passing day. . . . By acting as an ethnographic observer, Merriman-Labor asserts the right of being the observer, not the observed. In Britons, the white Europeans are the exotic others who need to be explained. . . . His clever, irreverent, joyful voice rings through Britons Through Negro Spectacles, reminding us that for those willing to listen, voices from the margins have important things to teach us." —Oxford University Press Blog

Author Biography

A.B.C. Merriman-Labor was a barrister, writer and munitions worker born in Freetown, Sierra Leone in 1877. His published works include A Series of Lectures on the Negro Race and The Story of the African Slave in a Nutshell. He also edited two editions of the Handbook of Sierra Leone. He arrived in the UK in 1904 to study law. In 1907, he organized a centenary commemoration of the abolition of the slave trade in Westminster Abbey. He later embarked on an 'entertainment-lecture' tour called Life and Scenes in Britain, traveling across thousands of miles of West, South West and Central Africa, which he expanded on to create Britons Through Negro Spectacles.