Cultures of London: Legacies of Migration

Londons history and culture have been shaped by migration, and this book celebrates the plurality of its cultures through thirty-three short essays by academics, artists, broadcasters, and curators. It explores famous people and places, as well as less well-known subjects, and engages with the many human migrations from across the globe and within the British Isles that have taken place over the last two thousand years.

Format: Hardback
Length: 328 pages
Publication date: 11 January 2024
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Londons history and culture have been shaped by migration, from its Roman origins to its modern-day status as a super-diverse World City. This book celebrates the plurality of the capital's cultures and affirms the importance of migration in shaping the modern city through thirty-three short essays written by academics, artists, broadcasters, and curators. The essays range from the medieval to the contemporary, covering a wide range of subjects, including buildings and institutions, individuals and communities, objects, visual art, street performances, and literary texts. Some contributors focus on famous people and places, such as Shakespeare and St Pauls, while others explore less well-known subjects, such as the Free German League of Culture (1939-46) or Ignatius Sancho, the eighteenth-century musician, grocer, and man-of-letters. Migration is not only diverse, but it is also plural. This book engages with the many human migrations from across the globe and within the British Isles that have taken place over the last two thousand years, as well as with the movements of plants, animals, ideologies, natural resources, and man-made toxins into and through the city. The volume offers a kaleidoscopic vision of the city and provides new insights into the successive migrant communities that have come to London and made it their own.

Weight: 514g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350242029