This was such an amazing read!! I’ve read other stories about black people and black culture, but most center around the US and begin with slavery and run into current times in the US. This book delves into a different history of servitude and also the free black person in many parts of Europe and how even then, this “freedom” wasn’t and isn’t true freedom. I kind of knew Europe was a mess, but I hadn’t realized how race was really seen out there until now. I definitely need to get this book in print!

My knowledge of European history is very limited, and my knowledge of the history of minorities in Europe is even less, so I was really excited to get this ARC that

This book examines the lives and effects of Africans throughout Europe from educated young men in France to modern actors and artists.

I really appreciated the depth of this book. Otele covers a huge expanse of time up to and including the present. Like talking about the influences of race in the French branch of the Me Too movement.

Otele backs up her work with a great deal of research, but also writes in a very personable and easy to read format. Highly recommend for anybody wanting to expand their knowledge.

Thanks to NetGalley and Perseus Books, Basic Books for this ARC.

Great book , this new look at an old historical tome is refreshing, and encompasses what historians covet in it's discoveries. That it was written by a woman is a plus, as historically women's histories were not the focus. I hope to see more by this author.

People of African heritage have contributed greatly to Europe's music, literature and other fields but their achievements have long been forgotten or overlooked. In this book, historian Olivette Otele charts the history of Africans in Europe, setting their individual stories in a context. Highly recommended.

A fascinating history that shows the presence of black Europeans that many historical writings ignored previously. I highly recommend as this is such an incredible work and so well written. It reviews not just the lives of these incredible people but how they were portrayed after their deaths and how those portrayals were shifted and interpreted. A really fascinating work that fills gaps that so much of the literature misses. I highly recommend.

I was very fortunate to attend a university that Prof Otele worked at and had attended some lectures by her so I was so excited to be approved this. Such a wonderful book, rich and detailed and yet easy to read, in writing anyway, the tone can be hard but well worth it. Brilliant

I was really excited for this book because it focused on a subject I knew very little about. However, the story was disjointed and kept jumping around which made it hard for me to follow. This, it would have been better if it was told in a more linear format. I still recommend this book because of the subject matter.

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book, this is a fascinating history of africans in europe and how they shaped history. a real eye opener

To find out how long Africans in Europe can be traced was extremely fascinating! This is a great read for any history lover that is interested in learning about a complex piece of European history.

This book, unfortunately, took me a long time to get to as life kept pulling me away, something I allow for when I read nonfiction. However, each chapter in this book, and this is one of the bets parts, can stand alone as an excellent lesson that can challenge one's own understanding of history, as it did mine. For that, I recommend it.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. Very interesting read and informative. I highly recommend.

Without a doubt, this is a well-researched book—it's obvious from the start that Otélé is knowledgeable and passionate about the topic. It's filled to the brim with detail and I think that's where its problems lie. Each section is just filled with so much information that Otélé often goes off on tangents that seem to have no relevance to what the chapter actually started off as. It makes it really hard to follow especially as there is often no segue between topics or introduction to new ones—it bounces around quite quickly. Sometimes it can be a little hard to write these reviews as well because I have no idea how much has changed between the arc and the full copy, and I felt like some of the problems with disjointed writing and whatnot could've been fixed with another round or two of edits. Lastly, I think that Otélé expects her readers to have a reasonable amount of knowledge before going into this—she often gives no explanation as to what ideas or who people are, you just have to sort of work it out for yourself. For someone who is well-versed in the certain historical periods and events explored, I'm sure this isn't something to even think about but I have to admit I struggled to keep up in places.

Realistically, I'd say I'd give this read 4.5 stars. A rounded 5 stars of course, because I can't say I feel eager to the max about my read, whether in reflection or recommending it further. But I won't say I don't feel eager to the max. It might depend on my audience. So yeah, essentially 5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley for an e-arc. 3-3.5/5 stars

This was a fascinating look at the history of Africans relationship to, and existence in, Europe. I ended up reading along with the audiobook narrated by the author.

The narration was alright. I always admire academics who choose to narrate their own works, but it can be a learning process. The quality of the audiobook isn't the best. It's mostly minor stuff, small shifts in volume or tone or how the author is narrating something, likely due to breaks in between. It also feels dry which isn't necessarily a bad thing, merely not my personal preference, but that approach did exacerbate my problem following the content of the book.

I'm hesitant to give this three stars because much of my critique is personal preference mixed with my mindset while reading this. I've been interested in reading this for a while, and when I finally did it was hard for me to follow the overall narrative in part because I was struggling to read in general. Nevertheless, some of the blame is with the book, or how it's structured. It feels like we go from topic to topic, each very detailed, but those very details come across like a wave of facts that I struggled to retain.

Personally, I would have liked to have seen a more overarching narrative to help the reader/me connect each step in the overall story. Where, even if we don't retain every name or event, we get a good feel of each time period.

Overall, my feelings are very subjective, and I certainly don't want to give the impression that this book isn't worth reading because it very much is. Even as an American, I felt much of the earliest history explored here is important precursor to American history, not to mention the value of understanding it in Europe considering it's weight on the world's stage.

This isn't an easy book, but if it seems interesting to you, I do urge you to give it a shot. My struggles don't make it a bad book, nor is it necessarily representative of most readers.

Again, 3-3.5/5 stars.

This was a very detailed book about Europeans that have African descent. The book read like a history textbook to me, so if you like those type of books, then this would be the book for you. Although I do have to say the book was insightful and very informative

This was such a comprehensive academic book! It is about African history in Europe. An insightful and well written book that helped me understand a lot about the African history in Europe.

There was so much interesting information in this book, but I felt like the way it was presented really did it a disservice. It wasn't necessarily the writing, but the way that it was organized- it seemed like unconnected events were presented one after another and the chapters didn't seem to have much of a rhyme or reason to them. If you can look past that, you can learn a lot but it's not the most "user-friendly" history text I've read.

A fascinating topic that is bogged down by the scholarly writing style which makes it a bit hard going. The way it is written will sadly put off quite a few readers.

Written by an academic for academics.

Very interesting content! The reader needs to be in a "informative" or "research" mode, but the content is worth it!

Review African Europeans – An Untold History

I received a review copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Sometimes you find books you instantly know you’ll like. I found this one months ago and I would’ve read it anyways, but it just so coincided with the rising of racist ignorance regarding Black people living in Europe. People were decrying the existence of Black characters in popular media, from games to movies, arguing that Black people didn’t live in Europe “at that time”, which ranged from antiquity and middle-ages until 1945. I already knew that this was historically incorrect and that the presence of Black people was, as I assumed correctly and Otélé proves, an act of active amnesia: erasing, negating and thus forgetting the existence of Black people in Europe as a political move.

So, when I saw this ARC, I was not only happy to learn more and get rid of my blind spots, I was looking forward to being equipped with the historical and scholarly ammunition I needed for future conversations. I knew this book was going to be good and dear readers, this book delivered and exceeded my expectations tenfold!

First of all, for an ARC this book was flawless. Flawless!
I found exactly one minute mistake – one sentence in the epilogue didn’t start with a capitalisation – and was otherwise stunned at the quality, not because I didn’t expect it to be excellent, but because I thought of other ARCs I’ve read. (One particular very awful nonfiction comes to mind…) Each and every single book by Black women I got through Netgalley share the same amount of skill and rigorous research. I strive to be that good in my own academic writing and I know I have a long way to go but their work gives me a goal and an example I try to achieve.
Not only are grammar and spelling flawless, Otélé is a great storyteller. She writes clearly, concisely and with passion. The words flow from the pages, which I know takes a lot of hard work. The scholarly aspect is equally impeccable with great summaries of complex theories and works, great analysis, giving every single source and summarising materials to give you enough information and details but without being confusing or boring. It is hard to be able to synthesise sources well. It was an absolute pleasure to read this.

What is African Europeans about?

<blockquote>The history of African Europeans is vibrant and complex, just as it is brutal. It is a collection of experiences that vary greatly from one place to another and across time. All of these histories have shaped the social practices and identities of European communities and continue to do so today. The trajectories of African Europeans are embedded in local architecture, as well as in national and international visual, literary and other cultural productions. From religious artefacts to representations of the magi; from an intellectual in fifteenth-century Granada to the young grime artists of twenty-first-century Britain, African European identities have continuously evolved. While most eighteenth-century African Europeans had to tiptoe around their spaces, reluctant to assert their presence, twenty-first-century French Afrofeminists and other African Europeans are claiming their rights to self-define, reshaping discourses around race, feminism, and their own lives.</blockquote>

From the antiquities to modern times, Otélé looks at various cases of African-European exchange and the lives of famous and regular people of African Europeans. We have Roman soldiers, who enjoyed high education and became politicians; religious figures and saints; enslaved and freedpeople, including how Africans navigated slavery as participants within the global market; famous Black women, such as Josephine Baker, Sarah Baartman (Hottentot Venus) and Jeanne Duval; famous European figures with African ancestry like Alexandre Dumas and Alexander Pushkin; people from sports; and much more.

As Otélé shows, it would be a mistake to view everything from the racialised and racist lens that permeates our time. Did racism play an important role in many of these interactions? Yes. But through millennia and centuries, the idea and identity of “African” had shifted numerous times. She presents a complex and nuanced kaleidoscope of exchange, influence and even appreciation for African culture, history and people throughout Europe. It wasn’t until much later that “African” became synonymous with “slave/enslaved” and even within this system of enslavement, exploitation and dehumanisation did Africans find myriad ways to engage with Europe/ans.
There are clear examples of exploitation within slavery, as many women were sexually abused by their white owners. The trajectory for the children was complicated, as some would become enslaved themselves, while others could advance – albeit oftentimes limited – within European society and receive education, possibly even positions or marriages within the European elite. There are also cases where white men would marry indigenous African women for their connections within their culture, as it made trading – in goods, as well as enslaved people – easier. This way, African women could profit and even participate in the global market. The power relations should not be obfuscated and Otélé is very clear in saying that these relations were complex and based on exploitation and uneven power dynamics. She doesn’t sugar-coat the history or pretend that Africans had equal chances and opportunities within a system that was designed to oppress them. She merely shows that there were hybrid forms of life where Africans would try and find success, (relative) safety and money within a system as best as they could.

African Europeans presents a slice of the many lives of African Europeans, discussing what it meant to be “African” depending on the epoch, the shifting identities and changes in perception and ultimately the numerous and indispensable contributions to European history, culture, economics, society, arts, sports and more. There is no Europe without Africa, and not only because the first humans to walk the planet moved from Africa to Europe – the first humans to live in what is now England were scientifically proven to be dark-skinned – but because the African-European exchange – from goods and ideas to people – has never stopped. It was and is a continuous flow.

Fact is that we Europeans profited from Africans and Africa a lot and it hasn’t stopped. And even if that weren’t the case, people deserve respect, equality, equity and opportunity without being “productive” or becoming a “model immigrant”. Human rights and dignity should never be tied to conditions, like economic contributions/exploitation.

I will end this review by recommending you this book in all its five-star glory. You will not regret reading it. And the final words go to Otélé herself:

<blockquote>The stories of migratory movement from Africa to the Americas and to Europe educate us about the forced contributions of people of African descent. Even ‘voluntary’ migrations are also forced in many ways, as economic migrants leave their families and culture in search of better lives. What to make of all these histories colliding, and contributing to anxiety amongst some contemporary groups while they are deeply valued by others? These stories should be taught, widely analysed, and valued. They bring us back to our human nature, while also serving as reminders that ‘humanity’ itself is a shifting concept. […]
They do so because the histories of marginalised communities have found ways, be it through music, dance, food, arts or sports, to permeate the societies in which they live and have lived. Lived experiences have also been transmitted by these groups through successive generations. However, simply remembering is not the ultimate goal. Triumph against institutionalised brutality, everyday forms of racism and microaggression, poverty, exclusion and marginalisation requires a radical way of using transmitted experience of resistance. It demands a collective degree of consciousness that runs across social, economic, gender and cultural barriers. It entails a renewed and adaptable practice of kinship. It means engaging with black radicalism.</blockquote>