On Colonial (Mis)Management: Bishop Frank Weston’s The Black Serfs of Britain, with an Introduction and Commentary

Bishop Frank Weston’s The Black Serfs of Britain (1923) is a short pamphlet which critiques British colonial governance in East Africa in wake of the First World War. Much more difficult to obtain than its earlier sister volume, The Black Slaves of Prussia (1918), it sees Weston in a familiar combative vein. The two works are crucially important in gaining a fuller picture of Weston, his thinking and his legacy. Often remembered as an Anglo-Catholic contrarian, these political texts bring to the fore his Christian socialism and add crucial details to the journey which would famously lead to the Anglo-Catholic conference and his powerful injunction to serve Christ both in worship and social ministries. The text of The Black Serfs of Britain is printed in full with introductory material, commentary, and notes.