Windrush: 75 Years of Modern Britain

by Trevor Phillips, Mike Phillips

The oral history of Britain’s first West Indian immigrants and their descendants

In 1948 the former troop ship Windrush made the 30-day journey across the Atlantic from Jamaica. The arrival of its 500 passengers, the first generation of Caribbean migrants in the UK, was the initial step in the formation of a new the black Briton.

Fifty years later, Mike and Trevor Phillips spoke to those on the Windrush itself, as well as those who followed, to tell the story of Britain in the second half of the twentieth century through the eyes of the outsiders who became insiders.

Now updated to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the ship’s voyage and including reflections on its political and cultural legacy in 2023, Windrush is an essential record of this transformative era in British social history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, British Literature

432 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 22, 2023

Reviews

[Vaishali · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to read this in June because that commemorated 75 years since the Windrush ship arrived in the United Kingdom. Despite not being able to complete this, it was still an engaging read and one that I would definitely recommend for those who want to understand how Britain was forever changed because of the arrival of this ship.

The book is split into many different facets of British life that these Caribbean migrants faced, from institutional racism in schools to playing cricket and the symbolism of Carnival. It was told through both first-hand experiences and through observations made in the media. These observations really encapsulated the experience of coming to the United Kingdom and being an outsider but desperately trying to be an insider. They also varied across the board as Mike and Trevor Phillips spoke to a number of different people, like Lenny Henry and Diane Abbott MP.

What stood out most to me was the idea of what it means to be British in a political and social landscape that is constantly changing. These Caribbean migrants saw themselves as British because they were a former colony of the British Empire and they saw the United Kingdom as the ‘motherland’. British subjects, whether that be of the colonial or the dominion origin, are free to enter the United Kingdom as they please. regardless of their race. The Caribbean migrants thought they’d be warmly welcomed and most individuals saved to make the journey. They never thought that they’d be isolated and marginalised because of their race and the wider implications this would have.

Similarly, I see myself as British and not English even though I am technically English because I was born in England. As a British Indian, I often have the same conversation of “but where are you really from?” and my answers never seem to satisfy the asker because they already have pre-conceived notions of where they think I’m from.

I really appreciated the afterword at the back of the book because it was written in 2023 (the book was originally published in 1998). So much has changed since then but somehow immigration and the migrant crisis are still at the forefront. It’ll be interesting to see how any aspect of the novel may change in the 100th year since Windrush arrived, in 2048.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extensive history of the Windrush generation.

[Gette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked: great overview of the Windrush generation and how British culture and politics evolved following that period. I liked how interviews were used to share personal experiences. I felt like I took a trip back in time especially hearing about the musicians who were impactful around that time.

Disliked: way too long because of several interviews that didn’t add much at times. I listened to the audiobook and I also didn’t like the narrator/s trying different accents for the different interviewees. It felt like a mockery.

There was also one interview with a guy who got caught shooting at a woman and he made it out as if he wasn’t dangerous. Can’t believe he pulled the race card for that.

Giving it a 3.5 rounded up to 4 since it was enjoyable despite my issues with.

Rating system:
5 - Absolutely loved it!
4 - Enjoyed it / Interesting read
3 - Good / It was okay
2 - Could be better / Wasn’t that interesting
1 - Why did this even get published?

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has shown me that I enjoy reading history books. I enjoyed learning about the experience of migrants from the West Indies and their ancestors in Britain through their own testimony. It reads like a bedtime story in a way, with lots of different voices describing events and the atmosphere in Britain over the last century, starting with the WW2 effort.
I am from South London, close to home for much of this story, so reading events happening in Brixton, New Cross, Notting Dale (near my old school), Battersea and the list goes on, really immersed me in the different stories and has given me a new perspective on the community that I live in.
I would recommend this book to my mother who is very interested in post-colonial literature, who probably would rather die than read a non-fiction book, but would find that the flow of this is very much one of a story rather than a textbook.

[Leon Markham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read after listening to an interview with Trevor Phillips. Fascinating story and told in a lovely way with interviews with different people with experience of the events. One thing that struck me is how much of what are basically "settled" mainstream views in the UK were controversial, and really fought for, not long ago at all.

Rated 4 stars according to my rating scale:

***** - I will read it again
**** - You should read it
*** - I'm glad I read it
** - I with I hadn't read it
* - I wish it hadn't been written