Bright Stars of Black British History by J.T. Williams and Angela Vives – Blog Tour

Hello again!

Today I’m part of the Random Things Tour for this absolutely glorious book – Bright Stars of Black British History by J.T. Williams and Angela Vives.

I’ve been so lucky this year, having been given so many wonderful books to review. And the stories have all been fantastic, and I’ve really enjoyed reading outside of my usual comfort zone, BUT as a pure object of bookish loveliness, this one stands out miles above the rest.

It’s a sumptuous tome – the gold on the cover is inviting, and the artwork inside is friendly and warm. And on top of the all-round loveliness of it, its a really great read.

As someone studying archaeology and up to my eyeballs in isotopic analysis most days, I already knew a bit about the hitherto invisible Black population of Britain post-Roman and pre-Tudor. And Miranda Kaufmann’s book Black Tudors had filled some of the gaps from there. That said, even despite my (albeit sketchy) prior knowledge, I found myself learning something new on every page.

Youngest child – almost-9 – said that they most enjoyed learning about football player and soldier, Walter Tull. Eldest – 12- highlighted the greater depth of information that this book held about Mary Seacole than other books on nursing that we’d seen.

This is a reference book that every school library should have – it’s accessible without being condescending, informative without being dry, and easy to read aloud from. Despite the relatively big age-gap between my children, we’ve read this together on multiple occasions and no one has come away from the session feeling too young, or too old for the content.

I mean, look at those pages! Who wouldn’t want to spend an evening in artwork that beautiful.

We’re obviously keeping this copy of the book, to sit alongside the other scrummy living-room books (for example Lots, and Maps), but I’ll be buying copies to give as gifts this festive season too.

If you’re interested, you can pick up a copy from here, as well as your usual online/in-person bookshop.

What are you favourite history books, or books for older children? I’d love to seek them out!

Much love

Fran ❤