The Life and Times of a Very British Man

(Paperback)

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A revealing, honest and often comic coming-of-age story about growing up in 1970s Britain on the boundaries of race 'Full of charm' GUARDIAN 'An account of what being British means' i 'Captures a country in transition ... You can't fail to be moved' THE TIMES Kamal Ahmed's childhood was very British in every way except for the fact that he was brown. Half English, half Sudanese, he was raised at a time when being mixed-race meant being told to go home, even when you were born just down the road. This is his account of an upbringing of cricket and bucket-and-spade holidays, Angel Delight and the BBC - British to the core, yet always feeling foreign in the only home he had ever known. 'Ahmed grew up as a mixed-race kid in west London in the seventies, and his book charts the progress (sometimes slow and now without a few setbacks along the way) that our country has made on race issues since then. Brilliant' Rohan Silva, Evening Standard

Reviews

Sparky, accessible and stimulating * Observer *
Full of charm. Will no doubt deepen the conversation on race and identity in Britain * Guardian *
Compelling. Ahmed writes evocatively of his almost cloyingly British upbringing: life in the suburbs: bucket-and-spade hols, cricket and card games with (white) Granddad. And yet, as Ahmed observes, he has always felt a little alien in his homeland. It is clear that Ahmed has done his homework spoken to an enormous number of people, read endless studies. The book is a valuable addition to a growing body of work on what it means to be mixed race in modern Britain * Sunday Times *
Ahmed draws on his experiences as a half-English, half-Sudanese child in 70s London for an account of what being British means * 50 Top Reads for Autumn, i-paper *
Captures a country in transition. Even allowing for the lofty vantage point [Ahmed] looks back from as economics editor of the BBC, his story has a touch of the everyman about it. Ahmed recounts all this with elegance and wry humour. You cant fail to be moved * The Times *
Excellent. Ahmed grew up as a mixed-race kid in west London in the Seventies, and his book charts the progress (sometimes slow and not without a few setbacks along the way) that our country has made on race issues since then. Brilliant -- Rohan Silva * Evening Standard *
[An] intimate memoir ... Ahmed uses his parents' individual and joint personal stories to pan outward into the broader histories of their countries, continents, and the evolution of ideas about race and citizenship ... Read[s] like an engaging novel ... Although emotionally similar to Dreams from my Father by Barack Obama and stylistically similar to Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, The Life and Times of a Very British Man is deeper in its complexity and broader in scope than those other two titles * Media Diversified *
[Ahmed] writes movingly With personal anecdotes and political analysis, its a thoughtfully written and thought-provoking book about race and identity in the Britain he passionately believes in * Choice Magazine *

Author Bio

Kamal Ahmed is Economics Editor of the BBC and one of Britains most respected journalists. He joined the BBC in April 2014 as Business Editor after a twenty-year career in newspapers. He has worked for the Guardian, the Observer and the Sunday and Daily Telegraph. He started his career in local newspapers in Scotland and subsequently worked for Scotland on Sunday. He has also served as Group Director of Communications for the Equality and Human Rights Commission and is a board member of the Media Trust. He lives in London. @bbckamal