African Europeans: An Untold History

By Olivette Otélé

Book Overview

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.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1541619676
• ISBN13: 9781541619678
• Release Date: May 2021
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.18 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.0" x 9.2"