Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala

8 reviews

selimhannah's review against another edition

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informative reflective medium-paced

3.75


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kristenreads's review

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informative reflective medium-paced

4.0


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readingthroughinfinity's review

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challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

This is an excellent, insightful piece of nonfiction about the history of racism and empire in the UK. It's clear that a lot of research went into this, as Akala delves into the Britain's colonial past and the damaging legacy it left behind for the countries colonised and in the way people of colour are treated in he UK today. He also discusses his childhood and own experiences of racism, weaving these anecdotes and stories together with the wider discussion of the issues faced by global African communities. A fantastic piece of nonfiction and one that I wish everyone (but especially white people) in the UK would read. 

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beca_reads's review

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informative reflective medium-paced

5.0


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britgirlreading's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0


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lukerik's review

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funny informative reflective fast-paced

4.0

If Zack de la Rocha were British and wrote a book. 

It’s a hard piece of writing to categorise. Political and personal and polemical. It’s almost like a personal work of sociology, properly referenced and with an interesting bibliography. Akala is obviously a very intelligent man with a finely tuned bullshit detector and a laser-like intellect that he turns on some very confusing issues. Thorough, precise, and sensible arguments and he never takes rhetorical shortcuts even when he’s angry. I didn’t agree with all his conclusions, but if we’re all going to agree we may as well give up and stop thinking now. A very thought-provoking book. I often found it sending my mind off at tangents so that reading it is almost like engaging in a dialogue. Also very funny at times. 

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questingnotcoasting's review

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challenging informative inspiring sad medium-paced

4.0

This completely lived up to all the glowing reviews I'd seen. I meant to read it last month but didn't get round to it and I'm glad I didn't leave it any longer. Akala's writing is articulate, incisive and witty and he interweaves his lived experience with history so smoothly. He examines the way race and class intersect and builds a clear argument against the common misconception that the UK is a meritocracy. That in particular wasn't news to me but there was so much history here that I knew nothing about, including some fairly recent events. I just read Black and British by David Olusoga and I feel like the two books complement each other very well. I found them both really enlightening, especially in the way they dismantle the myths Britain has built around its history of colonialism and slavery. 

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achingallover's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

3.0


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