Jordanna Bailkin

As the world’s refugee crisis is once again bringing the challenges of mass encampment to Europe, the camps of Britain’s recent past could serve as a warning to today’s politicians.

Large numbers of West Africans came to Britain to study in the postwar years. Many placed their children in the care of white, working-class families. Jordanna Bailkin describes how it was not just Britain’s diplomatic relationships that were transformed at the end of empire but also social and personal ones.