Book Launch: Leslie James, "George Padmore and Decolonization from Below"

Here's an exciting event for readers located in London: on Tuesday, February 3, Dr.Leslie James, a Lecturer in World History at the University of Cambridge, will discuss her new book, George Padmore and Decolonisation from Below: Pan-Africanism, the Cold War, and the End of Empire, which appeared recently with Palgrave MacMillan.

Readers outside of the fields of British History, or studies of the Black Atlantic, might not have heard of Padmore's name. But the London-based, Trinidad-born Marxist led a life that, as James' book's subtitle hints, ran through many of the major themes of the twentieth century. Whether one is interested in Padmore's relationship with Pan-Africanist figures like Kwame Nkrumah and Jomo Kenyatta, or just interested in following a life that illuminates the twentieth century more broadly, George Padmore and Decolonisation from Below promises to be an illuminating read.

The event will be hosted by our friends at LSE Ideas, a unit of the London School of Economics. The event will take place from 6:30 PM to 8 PM in Room B.13 at 32 Lincoln's Inn Fields, and will be chaired by LSE's Odd Arne Westad, with Professors Richard Drayton (King's College London) and Bill Schwarz (Queen Mary University) appearing as discussants.