Welcome to Litsy!

As you can tell from my recent blast of quotes, I really liked this one. The author is a British Sikh journalist thoughtfully exploring the effects of imperialism on Britain after realising how little he was taught about the British Empire. Looking forward to reading the follow-up, Empireworld, soon.

Sorry for the angle of the photo; I‘m in that section of the book where it is hard to get the page to lie flat(ish) without cracking the spine of this borrowed book.

#firstlinefridays

“I am as much evidence of the fact that Britain once had an empire as the Maqdala Crown in the V&A, and if I have rather overemphasized my point here, it‘s because it needs to be. Britain has long struggled to accept the imperial explanation for its racial diversity. The idea that black and brown people are aliens who arrived without permission, and with no link to Britain, to abuse British hospitality is the defining political narrative…

This quote is from a section that is discussing looted artifacts, many of which aren‘t even displayed in the museums that ended up with them, but are strongly valued by the communities from which they came.

This is essential reading for anyone who lives in Britain or anyone interested in British history. There seems to be a lack of awareness about Britain‘s dark and shameful history which needs brought to light. I knew some of this but not all and I learned a lot from this book which was easy to follow. Time for history lessons to include the truth in this country!

Enjoying this so far. I‘m learning more details of the British in India, which I‘m largely unfamiliar with. I‘m especially enjoying the chapter I‘m reading right now about how the empire has influenced both the number of immigrants to GB from the former empire, but also Britons‘ propensity for travel and living abroad themselves.

I‘m such a sucker for book suggestions from my local bookshop. I‘ve bought half a dozen books after seeing them on their Instagram in the last year. Looking forward to this one!