In Transatlantic Liverpool: Shades of the Black Atlantic, Mark Christian presents a Black British study within the context of the transatlantic and Liverpool, England. Taking a semi-autoethnographic approach based on the author's Black Liverpool heritage, Christian interacts with Paul Gilroy's notion of the Black Atlantic. Yet, provides a fresh perspective that takes into account a famous British slave port's history that has been overlooked or under-utilized. The longevity of Black presence in the city involves a history of discrimination, stigma, and a population group known colloquially as Liverpool Born Blacks (LBBs). Crucially, this book provides the reader with a deeper insight of the transatlantic in regard to the movement of Black souls and their struggle for acceptance in a hostile environment. This book is an evocative, passionate, and revealing read.

"Transatlantic Liverpool employs an Africana critical studies lens to examine transatlantic lives, linkages, and relationships beyond London, which Christian argues has been the center of too much of the Black British experience. He seeks to broaden the scope of transatlantic studies with case studies that consider evidence outside the metropole. Written as a semi-autoethnography that expands Paul Gilroy's concept of the Black Atlantic, the book contrasts the author's experiences with other transatlantic travelers, including Frederick Douglass. As Christian notes, Douglass came to England in search of freedom, whereas the author himself left England for the US in 1992 “to pursue academic freedom” (p. 21). Christian’s analysis thus attempts to connect the modern-day Black British experience to a wider transatlantic phenomenon that defines racial relationships and hierarchies on both sides of the Atlantic. He seeks to unravel the complex hierarchy of racism to reveal a fuller Black British experience that will foster deeper understandings of transatlantic history. His case studies, especially his coverage of the funding decisions made by Liverpool’s city council in the 1980s and 1990s, are particularly interesting. This volume will be valuable to readers seeking to know more about transatlantic linkages, Liverpool, and the Black British experience. Recommended. General readers through faculty." - Choice Reviews

"The book masterfully links the transatlantic analysis with a grassroots Black British perspective in the way a city can engage with a global discourse and dynamic – that of the slave trade, white racial supremacy and the practice of the city’s apology." - Ethnic and Racial Studies