Debate around empire and imperialism continues for Sathnam
The subjects of empire, imperialism and race were brought to life in a fascinating conversation with an award winning author.
Sathnam Sanghera made his annual pilgrimage to the Wolverhampton Literature Festival to talk about his new book "Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain".
In a frank and detailed interview with Natasha Junejo, the founder of South Asian Writers, Mr Sanghera talked about where the idea of the book, which looks at all elements of the imperial story, came from.
He said the conversation around empire and imperialism was controversial, with people advocating for one side accused of being "woke"and people becoming defensive about the subject.
The conversation took in such subjects as partition, the idea of imperial nostalgia in the UK and in India, and the subjects of Brexit and increased nationalism.
He also told the story of how establishment figures like William Gladstone, Queen Victoria and Winston Churchill were opposed to elements of empire.
Mr Sanghera also said he had received a wildly mixed response to the book, including racist abuse, death threats and a large amount of trolling from people upset by the content.
He said: "For years, white people have been telling the story, and now brown people are telling the story and people are getting upset about it."
He said it would be good if people could take the emotion out of the conversation and continued to think about how best to speak about it and learn about it.
The subjects of empire and imperialism will continue to be emotive, but with people like Sathnam Sanghera talking about it, a proper conversation about it may not be far away.
