
African Europeans
An Untold History
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 months free
Buy for $22.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Olivette Otele
-
By:
-
Olivette Otele
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. African Europeans is a landmark celebration of this integral, vibrantly complex slice of European history, and will redefine the field for years to come.
©2021 Olivette Otele (P)2021 Basic BooksListeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
“Ms. Otele, a black scholar at Britain’s University of Bristol, takes a broad view of her subject. Sometimes, the African Europeans of the title are, as one might expect, people living in Europe, but on many other occasions, they are blacks or people of mixed-race who have lived elsewhere, in other far-flung quarters of the Atlantic world. Her book is equally sprawling in terms of time, moving back and forth across the centuries, from antiquity to the present.... Some of Ms. Otele’s most interesting material is future-looking, asking questions about the ambivalence experienced by blacks in contemporary Europe.” (Wall Street Journal)
"This brisk, nuanced synthesis reminds us that there have been Africans in Europe for millenia." (Stephen Carter, Bloomberg Opinion, The 15 Best Nonfiction Books of 2021)
“Magisterial.... A story of violence and exclusion but also extraordinary destinies and achievements. Particularly admirable is Otele’s command of the subtleties of identity formation and change over time, as well as her marvellous cast of women characters, such as Jeanne Duval, Baudelaire’s muse and lover.” (Sudhir Hazareesingh, The Guardian, The Best Books of 2020)
People who viewed this also viewed...


















Excellent analysis of an untold history
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great read👏👏
What an amazing history
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great Book!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Worth the read!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It has been unusual to hear an audiobook read by the author unless the writer is also a performer. That proved to be awkward at times in this case. Professor Otele has an interesting accent where the French roots are clear and many words are quite English, but sometimes the pronunciations are odd and the phrasing uncomfortable. It sounded like the recording was a chore -- with some sections clearly being recorded at a different time in a different place.
While I was ultimately glad to hear an accomplished academic presenting the fruit of her labor, at times I wondered what a more polished performance of the text by Idris Elba or Letitia Wright (both mentioned towards the end) would have added.
A fascinating overview of overlooked history
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A good book
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Eye-opening Narrative
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Granada 1st black professor
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Very informative
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
2-history is shallow. Should have gone back further than Roman Empire
Terrible reader
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.