The Roma: A Travelling History

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The Roma is a profoundly personal portrait of a people and their on-going journey, shedding new light on their history in countries through which they’ve travelled and in which they’ve settled, and what it means to be Romani in Europe today. It is a history that is not widely understood, and that invisibility has created a space where fear and hostility continue to thrive. The Roma, as well as being full of fascinating stories and extraordinary individuals, is a powerful corrective to the stereotyping and prejudices that Romani communities still face today.We meet Ceija Stojka, the Roma artist who chronicled her experiences of the Holocaust in Austria; Johann Trollmann, the Sinto boxer who should have become Germany’s light-heavyweight champion only to have his win scratched from the record by the Nazis; and Mary Squires, the nineteenth-century Romani who was accused of kidnapping a young woman and sentenced to death only to be exonerated thanks to some detective work by an unconvinced judge.Throughout, Madeline Potter weaves in her travels though contemporary Romani Europe as well as strands of her own journey as a Romani woman in Romania and now the UK. In so doing she deftly blends explorative history with intimate accounts of racism to create a work of history that is also urgent, timely and forward-looking.

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