African Europeans: An Untold History - Olivette Otele 2021
A dazzling history of Africans in Europe, revealing their unacknowledged role in shaping the continent
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 Books
https://www.audible.com/pd/African-Europeans-Audiobook/1549136623