Who were Georgian London's 'Blackbirds of St Giles'?
New novel explores the black Londoners fighting for freedom in the 19th century.
It鈥檚 1782, Daniel and his sister Pearl arrive in London with the world at their feet and their future assured. Having escaped a Jamaican sugar plantation, Daniel fought for the British in the American War of Independence and was rewarded with freedom and an inheritance.
But the city is not a place for men like Daniel and he is callously tricked and finds himself, along with his sister Pearl, in the rookeries of St Giles 鈥� a warren of dark and menacing alleyways, filled with violence and poverty.
Can Daniel use his strength, wit and the fellowship of the other Blackbirds to overthrow Elias and truly find the freedom he fought for鈥�?
In a new novel from co-authors Lila Cain, 'The Blackbirds of St Giles' explores this lesser-known part of London's 19th century history. 大象传媒 Radio London's Robert Elms has been finding out more.
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