Canbury Press releases Unbound-funded immigrant stories

Indie publisher Canbury Press is released the Unbound-funded illustrated book 99 Immigrants Who Made Britain Great, featuring an introduction from Bonnie Greer.

The book, published in hardback on 3rd October and written by Louis Stewart and Naomi Kenyon, celebrates 99 inspirational characters who made a new life in Britain.

Canbury, which has world rights in all formats, crowdfunded the book via Unbound after co-author Stewart began tweeting stories of inspiring immigrants in 2018 and was encouraged by the enthusiastic reaction the tweets received.

The finished book includes historical figures such as Hans Holbein and Mary Seacole, up to the present day with Raheem Sterling and Malala Yousafzai. Freddie Mercury, Judith Kerr, Harry Selfridge and Kylie Minogue also have entries, which feature life stories and an original portrait.

Publisher Martin Hickman said: “Too often, we hear opinions on immigration that are ungenerous, misinformed, or plain prejudiced. If just one of these stories inspires someone to look at immigration in a different way, we’ll be happy, but ideally 99 Immigrants will reach deeper. Perhaps, the next time a reader hears a slur, they will be able to respond with a fact, such as: did you know that an immigrant started Marks & Spencer? Or that the Mini was designed by a refugee?

“Readers will discover the amazing characters who, among other things, made the London Underground possible, brought 'Thunderbirds' and 'The Muppet Show' to UK televisions, and founded Selfridges.”