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War to Windrush

Black Women in Britain 1939 to 1948

Stephen Bourne

9781909762855
pages
Jacaranda Books Art Music
Overview

Commemorating the 70th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush, Stephen Bourne’s War to Windrush explores the lives of Britain’s immigrant community through the experiences of Black British women during the period spanning from the beginning of World War II to the arrival of the Empire Windrush in 1948.

In those short years, Black British women performed integral roles in keeping the country functioning and set the stage for the arrival of other black Britons on the MV Empire Windrush. The book shows first-hand what life was like in Britain for black women through photography and evocative prose.

War to Windrush retraces the history of those women who helped to build the great, multicultural Britain we know today. It is a celebration of multiculturalism and immigration, much needed in today’s political climate.

Author Bio
Stephen Bourne has specialized in black British histories since 1991. He has written more than 15 books, including the acclaimed Black in the British Frame, Elisabeth Welch: Soft Lights and Sweet Music, and The Motherland Calls: Britain's Black Servicemen and Women 1939-1945. Bourne received the 2015 Southwark Arts Forum Award for Literature for Black Poppies: Britain's Black Community and the Great War. In 2017 he was awarded the Screen Nation Special Award and an honorary degree from Southbank University for more than 20 years in his field. He is a regular contributor to BBC documentaries and has written for many publications, including The Voice, The Independent, BBC History Magazine, and History Today.