A full understanding of Black and Asian history within the British contextis integral to achieving a truly multicultural Britain. In this landmark book, Ron Ramdin offers the first complete history of both the Black and Asian experience in Britain. Blacks and Asians have a long history in the British Isles. Ramdin illustrates this by covering a five hundred year period, from 1500 to the present day. He recounts the major historical episodes and covers all the major figures, including Ottobah Cugoano, William Cuffay, Henry Sylvester Williams, George Padmore, Mary Seacole, C.L.R. James, V.S. Naipaul, Sam Selvon, Walter Tull, Shirley Bassey, Bill Morris, Salman Rushdie, Hanif Kureshi, Diane Abbott and Bernie Grant. In bringing the largely hidden histories of these two immigrant communities to the forefront, Ron Ramdin's wide-ranging study challenges conventional histories of the British Isles. Reimaging Britain will lead to a reappraisal of how we write 'British' history in the future.

Preface Prologue Part One. The 'Blackamoores' Presence (1500-1900) 1. Africans and Asians in the British Isles (1500-1833) 2. Africans and Asians After Emancipation (1833-1900) Part Two: Britain and Empire (1900-60) 3. Racism, Empire and Labour 4. Afro-Asian Challenges (Pre-1962) Part Three. The Empire Within (1956-98) 5. The Migrant Workers' Story 6. Migrants in Transition and Authoritarianism (1960-89) 7. Migrant Communities. Leaders and Groupings (1960-89) 8. Towards the Millennium. Ethnic Minorities in the Nineties References Bibliography Index