Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire

Shortlisted for the James Tait Black Prize, the Jhalak Prize, The Bread and Roses Award, and longlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing

From the first time he was stopped and searched as a child, to the day he realised his mum was white, to his first encounters with racist teachers — race and class have shaped Akala’s life and outlook. In this unique book, he takes his own experiences and widens them out to look at the social, historical and political factors that have left us where we are today.

Covering everything from the police, education and identity, to politics, sexual objectification and the far right, Natives speaks directly to British denial and squeamishness when it comes to confronting issues of race and class that are at the heart of the legacy of Britain’s racialised empire.