Research Catalog

Details

Description

1. xi, 327 pages : illustrations, portrait; 25 cm

Summary

1. Kamal Ahmed's childhood was very 'British' in every way - except for the fact that he was brown. Half English, half Sudanese, he was raised in 1970s London at a time when being mixed-race meant being told to go home, even when you were born just down the road. The Life and Times of a Very British Man makes the case for a new conversation about race in Britain through personal stories, political analysis and passionate belief in the ultimate good of this country - white, black and brown. Kamal recounts the extraordinary circumstances that led to his father, a proud Sudanese scientist, marrying his mother, a grammar-school educated woman from Yorkshire - and the first white person he had ever met. It was a time when wearing a miniskirt was an act of social rebellion, when 'niggers' and 'coloureds' still formed part of the national lexicon and when Enoch Powell's infamous 'Rivers of Blood' speech cast a shadow over the childhood of a schoolboy in Ealing. Witty and humane, this is a modern state-of-the-nation from a man who adopted the name Neil growing up (it was better than 'camel') and went on to occupy one of the most elite positions in the British establishment. It is also a call to recognise that this very British mix is the foundation for Britain as we know it - from Linford Christie taking Olympic gold to the era-defining music of Soul II Soul - and a study of why, when we consider the often fractious debate about our identity, there are still great grounds for optimism.

Subject

1. Ahmed, Kamal (Economics editor) > Childhood and youth
2. 1900-1999
3. Racially mixed children > Race identity > Great Britain > 20th century
4. Racially mixed children > Great Britain > Ethnic identity > 20th century
5. Racially mixed children > Great Britain > History > 20th century
6. Racially mixed families > Great Britain > History > 20th century
7. Race discrimination > Great Britain > 20th century
8. Racism > Great Britain > 20th century
9. Race discrimination
10. Racially mixed children
11. Racially mixed children > Ethnic identity
12. Racially mixed children > Race identity
13. Racially mixed families
14. Racism
15. Great Britain

Genre/Form

1. History.

Contents

1. Mum and dad -- Preventable evil -- Go home -- Zoo time -- Happy face -- Dear Sudan -- I can't tell you how I felt when my father died -- Prejudiced, me? -- Reconciliation -- Conclusion : In-group.

Call number

1. Sc E 19-1330

Bibliography (note)

1. Includes bibliographical references and index.

Author

1. Ahmed, Kamal (Economics editor), author.

Title

1. The life and times of a very British man / Kamal Ahmed.

Publisher

1. London ; New York : Bloomsbury Circus, 2018.

Copyright date

1. ©2018

Type of content

1. text
2. still image

Type of medium

1. unmediated

Type of carrier

1. volume

Bibliography

1. Includes bibliographical references and index.

Chronological term

1. 1900-1999

ISBN

1. 9781408889183 (hardback)
2. 1408889188 (hardback)
3. 9781408889152 (trade paperback)
4. 1408889153 (trade paperback)
5. 9781408889169 (ePub ebook)

Research call number

1. Sc E 19-1330