Table of Contents

Prologue: The Second Great Wave
1 Farm
2 Market
3 Boat
4 Cell
5 Worship House
6 Restaurant
7 Classroom
8 Suburb
Conclusion: The Next Great Wave
Further Reading
Acknowledgements
Index

Promotional Information

The past, present and future of being Black, African and British in the capital.

About the Author

Jimi Famurewa is a British-Nigerian author, broadcaster and freelance journalist. His writing has appeared in the Guardian, Wired, GQ, Empire and Time Out London. He is the restaurant critic for the Evening Standard, regular guest judge on the BBC One series MasterChef and was also one of the judges on Channel 4’s The Great Cookbook Challenge with Jamie Oliver. In 2021, he won Restaurant Writer of the Year at both the Fortnum & Mason Awardsand the Guild of Food Writers Awards. His short story, ‘Teddybird’, was shortlisted for the 2017 Guardian/4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize and as an interviewer he has profiled Black African Londoners including Idris Elba, John Boyega and Skepta. He lives in South-East London with his family.

Reviews

As thrilling as it is touching and revealing - this book is an indispensable map to London today.
*Ben Judah, Journalist and author of This is London: Life and Death in the World City*

Illuminating and fascinating, with humour and some surprises, Jimi Famurewa examines Britain's African communities, past and present.
*Stephen Bourne, author of Black Poppies: Britain's Black Community and the Great War*

Jimi brings modern black London alive like no other author. This feels like an important book that is also a total pleasure to read.
*Sathnam Sanghera, author of EmpireLand: How Modern Britain is Shaped by its Imperial Past*

Settlers is the book I didn’t know I was waiting for. Jimi Famurewa approaches an incredibly complicated topic with a steady hand and fine precision that results in a book that is well researched, rich in nuance and handled with care. It was as enjoyable to read as it was enlightening.
*Jendella Benson, author of Hope & Glory*

This is an extraordinary and beautifully written piece of work that deals with a deeply complex and rich history with a remarkable lightness of touch, sensitivity, warmth and insight. It is depressing to reflect on the reality that all too many people continue to question the benefits of immigration. This fine book shows beyond any doubt that London, and this country, is all the better for its Black African population.
*James Ramsden*

A spellbinding portrait of culture, talent, food and activism.
*Stylist Magazine*

Settlers is replete with revealing anecdotes… Famurewa’s writing is thoughtful, cogent and admirably even-handed.
*theguardian.com*

Dazzling.
*Waitrose Food Magazine*

[Jimi's] voice and the way he writes I just love.
*Jamie Oliver*

Settlers is a pleasure to read, by turns lyrical, approachable, funny, sensitive and always well-researched… [Famurewa] sweeps you along so thoroughly that you don’t realise until you close the book quite how much you have enjoyed it, how much you have learnt and how much it will stay with you.
*The Spectator*

Combined with [Jimi's] own family history, this is a sometimes painful but always postivie story of defiance and reclamation.
*theguardian.com*