Born in 1729 on a slave ship bound for the West Indies, orphaned by the
age of two and taken to England by his owner, Ignatius Sancho rose from
servitude to become the most celebrated Afro-Briton of his time.
Sancho's varied accomplishments include a number of Afro-British
milestones, among them: first playwright; first art critic; first
published correspondence; first direct attack on slavery; the only
documented Afro-British voter during the eighteenth century; and the
first Afro-Briton to be accorded an entry in the Dictionary of National
Biography. His thoughts on race and politics - including his criticism
of British imperialism in India, the complicity of Africans in the slave
trade, and the blatant racism that flourished in his adopted homeland -
will be of particular interest to twentieth-century readers.