Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire

Opened my eyes to how the British history I have been taught is so white-biased. It opened questions for me about alternative narratives: That Cuba was so instrumental in fighting apartheid and that Britain's abolition of the slave trade was not a result of the white moral enlightenment I'd been led to believe.

This is also at least half auto biographical. It describes an upbringing and experiences of violence, racism and oppression that are easy to remain ignorant to as a white middle class person. For anyone who knows the posh coffee shops and gastro pubs of the London streets on which Akala witnesses stabbings and is subject to constant police harassment, this will make you aware of another world, very close to you.