A Different Hunger: Writings on Black Resistance

by Ambalavaner Sivanandan

This collection of A. Sivanandan's writings looks at the history of black struggles against British racism from the 1940s to the uprisings of Brixton and Toxteth in the 1980s.

Genres: Race, Nonfiction, Politics, British Literature

210 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 29, 1991

About the author

Ambalavaner Sivanandan is director of the Institute of Race Relations and editor of Race & Class. His fiction includes When Memory Dies, shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers Prize and winner of the Sagittarius Prize, and Where the Dance Is, both published by Arcadia Books.

Reviews

[Alfie Hancox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite possibly *the* most underrated British intellectual

[Alicia Easley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would rate this a 3.5.

Some of the essays were very poignant and really easy to digest, then other essays were needed to be read in digestible bites. I particularly enjoyed how these essays were set up, with there being a brief description at the beginning of each section (save part one, which is fairly self-explanatory). It made it easier to understand the context by which each essay was written.

From Resistance to Rebellion is definitely a must-read, particularly to understand how racism became systemic to government policies that currently impact us today in the UK.

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you can't get hold of this collection of Sivanandan's early writings at least try and find the essay that opens the collection; 'From resistance to rebellion: Asian and Afro-Caribbean struggles in Britain' which is an absolute must read. It's online here if you've got student/uni worker friends with that hot library axx (not me unfortunately)

[Sm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incisive, tort, uncomfortable, racist,