We Were There is a vital corrective that enhances our understanding of black British history, bringing into the spotlight extraordinary Black lives in once-rich cities now home to failing industries. It is a profoundly important new portrait of modern Britain, confronting, joyful, and thrilling. Lanre Bakare's work is genuinely pioneering and transformative.

Format: Hardback
Length: 384 pages
Publication date: 17 April 2025
Publisher: Vintage Publishing

We Were There is a vital corrective that enhances our understanding of black British history. It is an Esquire and GQ best book of 2025, an Independent book of the month, and a Guardian book to look forward to. Set in the late 1970s to the early 1990s, Britain was in tumult due to Margaret Thatcher's radical economic policy, the rise of the National Front, and widespread civil unrest. With anti-immigration policies in the political mainstream, Black lives were on the frontline of a racial reckoning. However, it was also a time of unrivaled Black cultural creation, organizing, and resistance. This was the crucible in which modern Britain came into existence. We Were There brings into the spotlight for the first time extraordinary Black lives in once-rich cities now home to failing industries: the foundries of Birmingham, the docks of Liverpool and Cardiff, the mills of Bradford. We are in Wigan, Wolverhampton, Manchester, and the green expanse of the British countryside. We meet feminists and Rastafarians, academics and pan-Africanists, environmental campaigners, and rugby-league superstars; witness landmark campaigns against miscarriages of justice; encounter radical groups of artists and pioneering thinkers; and tread dancefloors that hosted Northern Soul all-nighters and the birth of Acid House. Together, these voices and stories rewrite our idea of Black British culture. London was only ever part of the picture – We Were There is about incorporating a vastly broader range of Black Britons into the fabric of our national story. Alive with energy and purpose, We Were There decisively expands our sense of who we are. Confronting, joyful, and thought-provoking, We Were There is a vital corrective that enhances our understanding of black British history. It is an Esquire and GQ best book of 2025, an Independent book of the month, and a Guardian book to look forward to.

We Were There

We Were There is a vital corrective that enhances our understanding of black British history. It is an Esquire and GQ best book of 2025, an Independent book of the month, and a Guardian book to look forward to. Set in the late 1970s to the early 1990s, Britain was in tumult due to Margaret Thatcher's radical economic policy, the rise of the National Front, and widespread civil unrest. With anti-immigration policies in the political mainstream, Black lives were on the frontline of a racial reckoning. However, it was also a time of unrivaled Black cultural creation, organizing, and resistance. This was the crucible in which modern Britain came into existence. We Were There brings into the spotlight for the first time extraordinary Black lives in once-rich cities now home to failing industries: the foundries of Birmingham, the docks of Liverpool and Cardiff, the mills of Bradford. We are in Wigan, Wolverhampton, Manchester, and the green expanse of the British countryside. We meet feminists and Rastafarians, academics and pan-Africanists, environmental campaigners, and rugby-league superstars; witness landmark campaigns against miscarriages of justice; encounter radical groups of artists and pioneering thinkers; and tread dancefloors that hosted Northern Soul all-nighters and the birth of Acid House. Together, these voices and stories rewrite our idea of Black British culture. London was only ever part of the picture – We Were There is about incorporating a vastly broader range of Black Britons into the fabric of our national story. Alive with energy and purpose, We Were There decisively expands our sense of who we are. Confronting, joyful, and thought-provoking, We Were There is a vital corrective that enhances our understanding of black British history. It is an Esquire and GQ best book of 2025, an Independent book of the month, and a Guardian book to look forward to.

Weight: 598g
Dimension: 242 x 165 x 36 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781847927477