Research Catalog

Title

Black poppies : Britain's black community and the Great War / Stephen Bourne.

Author

Bourne, Stephen, 1957 October 31-

Publication

Stroud, Gloucestershire : The History Press, 2014.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

174 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, facsimiles, music, portraits; 24 cm

Summary

In 1914 there were at least 10,000 black Britons, many of African and West Indian heritage, fiercely loyal to their Mother Country. Despite being discouraged from serving in the British Army during the First World War, men managed to join all branches of the armed forces and black communities made a vital contribution, both on the front and at home. By 1918 it is estimated that the black population had trebled to 30,000, and after the war many black soldiers who had fought for Britain decided to make it their home. Black Poppies explores the military and civilian wartime experiences of these men and of women, from the trenches to the music hall. Poignantly, it concludes by examining the anti-black race riots of 1919 in cities like Cardiff and Liverpool, where black men came under attack from returning white soldiers who resented their presence, in spite of what they and their families had done for Britain during the war. The first book of its kind to focus on the Black British experience during the Great War; this new offering from Stephen Bourne is fascinating and eye-opening.

Subject

• 1900-1999
• World War, 1914-1918 > Black people > Great Britain
• Black people > Great Britain > History > 20th century
• Armed Forces > Colonial forces
• Black people
• Schwarze
• Soldat
• Heimatfront
• Weltkrieg
• Warfare and Defence
• Great Britain > Armed Forces > Colonial forces > 20th century
• Great Britain
• Großbritannien

Genre/Form

History.

Note

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 163-167) and index.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (pages 163-167) and index.

Contents

Black Britain, 1555-1919: a chronology -- Black poppies Q & A -- Part 1: Armed services. Lionel Turpin: a lad in a soldier's coat -- Walter Tull -- All the King's men -- Norman Manley -- British West Indies Regiment -- Jamaican lad. Shot at dawn -- Black Tommy at the Somme -- Seaford Cemetery -- "Thou shalt not kill" -- William Robinson Clarke: a wing and a prayer -- Part II: Home front. African in Truro -- Two Josephines -- Mabel Mercer -- Amanda and Avril -- Part III: Ernest Marke: 'We were just a scapegoat' -- London's East End -- Butetown, Cardiff -- Liverpool and the murder of Charles Wotten -- Black Britain, 1919.

ISBN

• 9780752497600
• 075249760X
• 9780752497877 (canceled/invalid)

LCCN

2015513416

OCLC

• ocn889756494
• 889756494
• SCSB-9424958

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library