Stephen Bourne Livres

During the Second World War, black volunteers from across the British Empire enthusiastically joined the armed forces and played their part in fighting Nazi Germany and its allies.

The trials and triumphs of Britain's black community during the Second World War

The story of Black British theatre at its most radical, entertaining and profound - told through the lives of its great trailblazers

A short, compelling history of Black Britons during the First World War, for readers aged 8 to 12

A long overdue exploration of gay representation on British TV from its 'golden age' to the launch of the liberal Channel 4

"From her stage debut in 1922 to her final professional appearance in 1996, Elisabeth Welch was an important figure in the world of popular song. In 1923 she launched the Charleston, and throughout the Jazz Age she was associated with some of the great names of the Harlem Renaissance, including Josephine Baker, Adelaide Hall, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, and Ethel Waters. On Broadway she popularized Cole Porter's scandalous "Love for Sale," and in 1933 she introduced "Stormy Weather" to British audiences. That same year she began a career in English musical theatre (Cole Porter's Nymph Errant) that lasted sixty years."

A fully revised and updated edition of a vitally important piece of black British history

Focusing on the life and career of a groundbreaking female blues and jazz singer, the biography highlights her significant contributions to 20th-century theatre, cinema, radio, and television. Despite her immense influence during the 1920s and 1930s, she has largely been forgotten. Stephen Bourne provides new insights into her legacy, supported by fourteen photographs, illustrating why she was once revered as the preeminent Black star of her time.

Commemorating the 70th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush, Stephen Bourne’s War to Windrush explores the lives of Britain’s immigrant community through the experiences of Black British women during the period spanning from the beginning of World War II to the arrival of the Empire Windrush in 1948. In those short years, Black British women performed integral roles in keeping the country functioning and set the stage for the arrival of other black Britons on the MV Empire Windrush. The book shows first-hand what life was like in Britain for black women through photography and evocative prose. War to Windrush retraces the history of those women who helped to build the great, multicultural Britain we know today. It is a celebration of multiculturalism and immigration, much needed in today’s political climate.

In this astonishing new history of wartime Britain, historian Stephen Bourne unearths the fascinating stories of the gay men who served in the armed forces and at home, and brings to light the great unheralded contribution they made to the war effort. Fighting Proud weaves together the remarkable lives of these men, from RAF hero Ian Gleed - a Flying Ace twice honoured for bravery by King George VI - to the infantry officers serving in the trenches on the Western Front in WWI - many of whom led the charges into machine-gun fire only to find themselves court-martialled after the war for indecent behaviour. Behind the lines, Alan Turing's work on breaking the `enigma machine' and subsequent persecution contrasts with the many stories of love and courage in Blitzed-out London, with new wartime diaries and letters unearthed for the first time. Bourne tells the bitterly sad story of Ivor Novello, who wrote the WWI anthem `Keep the Home Fires Burning', and the crucial work of Noel Coward - who was hated by Hitler for his work entertaining the troops. Fighting Proud also includes a wealth of long-suppressed wartime photography subsequently ignored by mainstream historians. This book is a monument to the bravery, sacrifice and honour shown by a persecuted minority, who contributed during Britain's hour of need.