London Crossings: A Biography of Black Britain (Literature, Culture, and Identity)

Mike Phillips was born in Guyana, travelled to Britain as a child, and grew up and went to school in London. Now he is one of the leading black writers in Europe, and "London Crossings" is a portrait of the city and the role it played in remaking his identity and nourishing the creative process. The narrative, told through a series of interlinked essays and stories, travels through a variety of locations as far apart as New York and Nairobi, London and Lodz, Washington and Warsaw. On the way, the author draws up a map of London from midway through the 20th century, describes the process by which Third World migration began to change the face of Europe's population and outlines differences in the past and future of ethnic minorities in the United States and the European continent. "London Crossings" is full of portraits of people and places and also tells the story of a new community and its struggles to locate its place in the world. In doing so, the author passes on the living experience of a vital, hidden history that alters and illuminates our understanding of the times and the people who lived through them.