Publisher Description
A dazzling history of Africans in Europe, revealing their unacknowledged role in shaping the continent
One of the Best History Books of 2021 — Smithsonian
Conventional wisdom holds that Africans are only a recent presence in Europe. But in African Europeans, renowned historian Olivette Otele debunks this and uncovers a long history of Europeans of African descent. From the third century, when the Egyptian Saint Maurice became the leader of a Roman legion, all the way up to the present, Otele explores encounters between those defined as “Africans” and those called “Europeans.” She gives equal attention to the most prominent figures—like Alessandro de Medici, the first duke of Florence thought to have been born to a free African woman in a Roman village—and the untold stories—like the lives of dual-heritage families in Europe’s coastal trading towns.
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African Europeans is a landmark celebration of this integral, vibrantly complex slice of European history, and will redefine the field for years to come.
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The breadth and depth of Otele’s research are impressive, as are the vivid characters who populate these pages….The author analyzes the many manifestations of racism they have faced and how that prejudice and oppression can have generational effects….Otele is also highly attuned to the role of gender in her history, and she consistently draws attention to the ways in which African women have been treated in European countries. By detailing such a wide variety of experiences across a vast geographical and cultural landscape, the author causes us to rethink the way we consider the terms ‘African’ and ‘European.’…A thorough, dynamic, accessible narrative that pulls together disparate strands into a unique, fresh history.
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