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joshua_c's review against another edition
3.5
A thought-provoking and well-researched exploration of the lives of Black people in Tudor England. Kaufmann provides vital and conclusive evidence that people of colour have lived in and been part of British culture and everyday life for centuries, dismissing innumerable misconceptions to the contrary including that multiculturalism is a purely modern phenomenon. Black Tudors is somewhat let down by the relative lack of evidence, most sources being taken from parish birth, marriage or death records which cannot be helped and does not undermine the central message of the book. However, the result is that much of what is offered is context which, though interesting, that space could have been better used to discuss in greater detail wider themes and conclusions on the topic. Nevertheless, a vital work that expands our understanding of the past and enriches our national history.
poorlywordedbookreviews's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
Extensively researched, and pretty clear on what’s fact and what’s assumption / current best working theory - this book is the result of the authors PHD thesis, and it shows. There are some really interesting stories in here, but the depth of evidence is limited (hence why it’s been previously very easy for people to dismiss looking at black history in Britain pre the 17th century). So in trying to build an accessible history book, not a thesis, it’s been bulked out with a lot of general information about the Tudor period. If it’s all new to you, this might be fascinating, but for me I found it all a bit dry and unnecessary.
It’s a shame this book wasn’t significantly shorter, focusing on the actual black tudors, and then more discussion on things such as; the opportunities to explore this history the on going digitisation of historical records is facilitating, the challenges in interpretation of historical records and the influence of dominant narratives at the time of analysis, and more details on how these discoveries impact our evolving understanding of the development of the slave trade, racial politics over time, and current day repercussions.
Read it is you didn’t realise there were black Africans and their descendants living non slave lives in Britain in the 1500s and / or know little of the periods culture and economics - but dip in and out to mitigate the dryness.
kirstym25's review against another edition
challenging
informative
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Colonisation, Racism, Racial slurs, and Slavery
wanderlustsleeping's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
I said this in a reading update, and I’m gonna say it again. I really hope more white readers (especially those who romanticize this time period) read this book.
The Tudor period is so romanticized and dramatized by so many, and so many people walk away with incorrect assumptions about people of color (namely, Africans) and their lives during this time period. Whether it be a book, tv show, or movie the time period excuse is always used when these mediums choose to show Africans as nothing but slaves. I’m thankful that everyone who reads this will have their assumptions challenged.
This book was entertaining, very informative, and as a black woman it made me proud and excited when reading these accounts.
The only negative is that 2 stories (out of 10) I found not to be too fascinating as they felt to drag on too long with contextual facts that are supposed to support the narrative of a particular African’s story, but seemed to go on too long of a tangent.
Also, I'm not too hyped a white woman wrote this as white women historically (and today) have been the biggest proponents of keeping black people (especially women) down, so a white women being one of the very few authors bringing this topic and truth about history to light makes me uncomfortable. In the future, I will be on the lookout for more works like this, and hopefully they will be written by black scholars.
I said this in a reading update, and I’m gonna say it again. I really hope more white readers (especially those who romanticize this time period) read this book.
The Tudor period is so romanticized and dramatized by so many, and so many people walk away with incorrect assumptions about people of color (namely, Africans) and their lives during this time period. Whether it be a book, tv show, or movie the time period excuse is always used when these mediums choose to show Africans as nothing but slaves. I’m thankful that everyone who reads this will have their assumptions challenged.
This book was entertaining, very informative, and as a black woman it made me proud and excited when reading these accounts.
The only negative is that 2 stories (out of 10) I found not to be too fascinating as they felt to drag on too long with contextual facts that are supposed to support the narrative of a particular African’s story, but seemed to go on too long of a tangent.
Also, I'm not too hyped a white woman wrote this as white women historically (and today) have been the biggest proponents of keeping black people (especially women) down, so a white women being one of the very few authors bringing this topic and truth about history to light makes me uncomfortable. In the future, I will be on the lookout for more works like this, and hopefully they will be written by black scholars.
blacksentai's review against another edition
2.0
So, this book has a lot of good information in it. It's really a small history of Tudor era England that just happens to involve black people. And that's fun. The problem is that the author really seems intent on . . . .I guess making England seem better than it was? The book reads as if making sure you know England was less racist than surrounding countries is a high priority.
The author really overly relies on the idea that you can't judge the past based on modern understandings, but that's kind of hogwash because she does it all the time. It's hogwash in general because that's always how we relate to the past. But people being racist 500 years ago isn't excusable because they thought it was cool back then. One example she uses is the idea that the zeal to convert other peoples to Christianity wasn't imperialistic or ethnocentric in any way. And that's just ridiculous. It's not a modern interpretation to state that white Christians going into other countries and pulling out slaves and murdering entire populations and using Christianity as a hammer to crush descent and telling people that they had to convert or die is imperialism. That's what it was. It really doesn't matter how earnest any particular members of any branch of Christianity were in their desire to send people to heaven. Telling someone else their religion is false and if you want to be treated as even half a human being you have to convert is kind of text book imperialism.
She does this kind of thing over and over throughout the book. And she also really likes to sensationalize any time a black person did something unheard of towards a white person like that balances out the atrocities of the time. The wildest part is that she doesn't even seem to be doing it on purpose. She really believes that the whipping anecdote is BIG FREAKING NEWS.
This book has the problem of so many non fiction books. There's a thesis the book is written about but it's so convinced that it's audience is someone stupid or recalcitrant that it has to hammer the least interesting points of the book home instead of really digging into what is interesting here. Like, this book goes "black people in Tudor England weren't slaves and lived a variety of lives." and then it tells you about some of them in interesting detail. Then it goes "aren't you surprised by this! omg black people doin shit! surprise! surprise!" and it's like, it's not surprising. That's kind of what I expect picking up a book about black people in Tudor England not being slaves.
I don't know. It's a book that decently well written and there's lots of fun stories in there, but it hurts itself by trying to convince me of something I don't need convincing of, and also trying to tell me how not racist things were during the slave trade. So ultimately this is kind of a meh book.
The author really overly relies on the idea that you can't judge the past based on modern understandings, but that's kind of hogwash because she does it all the time. It's hogwash in general because that's always how we relate to the past. But people being racist 500 years ago isn't excusable because they thought it was cool back then. One example she uses is the idea that the zeal to convert other peoples to Christianity wasn't imperialistic or ethnocentric in any way. And that's just ridiculous. It's not a modern interpretation to state that white Christians going into other countries and pulling out slaves and murdering entire populations and using Christianity as a hammer to crush descent and telling people that they had to convert or die is imperialism. That's what it was. It really doesn't matter how earnest any particular members of any branch of Christianity were in their desire to send people to heaven. Telling someone else their religion is false and if you want to be treated as even half a human being you have to convert is kind of text book imperialism.
She does this kind of thing over and over throughout the book. And she also really likes to sensationalize any time a black person did something unheard of towards a white person like that balances out the atrocities of the time. The wildest part is that she doesn't even seem to be doing it on purpose. She really believes that the whipping anecdote is BIG FREAKING NEWS.
This book has the problem of so many non fiction books. There's a thesis the book is written about but it's so convinced that it's audience is someone stupid or recalcitrant that it has to hammer the least interesting points of the book home instead of really digging into what is interesting here. Like, this book goes "black people in Tudor England weren't slaves and lived a variety of lives." and then it tells you about some of them in interesting detail. Then it goes "aren't you surprised by this! omg black people doin shit! surprise! surprise!" and it's like, it's not surprising. That's kind of what I expect picking up a book about black people in Tudor England not being slaves.
I don't know. It's a book that decently well written and there's lots of fun stories in there, but it hurts itself by trying to convince me of something I don't need convincing of, and also trying to tell me how not racist things were during the slave trade. So ultimately this is kind of a meh book.