JAI smith

If the preview pages are indicative of the rest of the content in this book, then this is an incredibly poor material for historical education even in the regards to children. Especially, in the regards to children. This book is filled with generalisations, poorly researched ideas and at some points outright lies which any historian will tell you, you simply cannot do. This makes any credible information it presents lose any weight they may have had. One of the key examples that is constantly raised is in regards to the Cheddar Man and the claim he had 'skin as dark as dark could be'. With a little research this is proved to be a fictitious claim with one of the key scientists who had tested the Cheddar Man stating 'we simply don't know' in regards to his skin colour due to missing data. Furthermore, they state that all people who had settled in Britain during this time were black despite having no information to substantiate this argument with them even stating on a previous page that in the cooler climates pale skin began to develop. It is believed that the people who came to Britain during this period had olive skin to black but this is clearly not included. Additionally, in the Roman section it is stated that Roman citizenship was merely for the elite which was not the case. Anyone who was born to free parents in the Empire gained citizenship and non-citizens could earn it through certain ways one of which being military service. I could state more about the inaccuracies of this book but in all honesty that could take all day. I am not surprised to learn that the author has no experience in history and is primarily concerned with literature and African oral stories. This is as if they had done any research or had any professional experience into this topic that didn't confirm their already present bias and inaccurate information this book could have been something decent. But as it currently stands this book has more in common with a piece of fiction or cultural indoctrination then actual history which is present in the BLM section of the book. I have to agree with the two genuine historians I have seen comment on this book horrified with its contents. As it stands it needs a major rework or edit to even be considered relevant. It is also of interest to me to see Amazon censoring the reviews of this book due to them being overwhelming negative taking issue with inaccuracies and pointing them out. This was before being flooded with all 5 star reviews that address the negative comments but do nothing to engage with them or point out how they or their facts were incorrect. Also the fact that this book is a #1 bestseller on Amazon even though only a month after its release it is on half price sale is slightly suspicious likely to drive up sales. So overall, unless this is reworked avoid for yourself or your children. There are plenty more accurate history books for children out there that are actually rooted in some sort of reality.