Foreigners

"Foreigners" is a compelling novel from acclaimed author Caryl Phillips that combines reportage, fiction, and historical fact to examine the place of black men in English society. Phillips tells the stories of three black men: Francis Barber, Samuel Johnson's slave, whose freedom under his master led to his tragic demise after his master's death; Randolph Turpin, who defeated Sugar Ray Robinson, only to die twelve years later in debt and despair; and David Oluwale, aNigerian stowaway whose death at the hands of police in 1969 was a clarion call for racial justice. Each of these men's stories illustrate the complexities of being a foreinger, and the importance of belonging, identity, and race.