Madeline Potter

A profoundly personal and moving portrait of a misunderstood people and their on-going journey - shedding new light on Romani history and what it means to be Romani in Europe today. The Romani story is not widely known, and that invisibility has allowed fear and hostility to thrive. The Roma, full of extraordinary individuals and hitherto ignored moments from history, corrects this. We meet the artist who chronicled her experiences of the Holocaust in Austria; the boxer who should have become Germany's light-heavyweight champion only to have his win scratched from the record by the Nazis; and a eighteenth-century woman in London who was sentenced to death for kidnapping to be exonerated by the detective work of an unconvinced judge. Throughout, Madeline Potter weaves in her travels though Romani Europe and experience as a Romani woman in Romania and in Britain. Blending evocative history and lyrical travel writing with intimate accounts of racism and calls for change, The Roma is a powerful story of resistance, resilience and survival - and a celebration of a vibrant culture and misunderstood people.

The Roma is a profoundly personal portrait of a people and their on-going journey, shedding new light on their history and what it means to be Romani in Europe today. It is a history that is not widely known and understood, and that invisibility has created a space where fear and hostility continue to thrive. Full of fascinating stories and extraordinary individuals, The Roma is a powerful corrective to the stereotyping and prejudices still faced by Romani communities. We meet the Romani artist who chronicled her experiences of the Holocaust in Austria; the boxer who should have become Germany’s light-heavyweight champion only to have his win scratched from the record by the Nazis; and a eighteenth-century Romani woman in London who was accused of kidnapping a girl and sentenced to death only to be exonerated thanks to some detective work by an unconvinced judge. Throughout, Madeline Potter weaves in her travels though contemporary Romani Europe as well as strands of her own journey as a Romani woman in Romania and now in Britain. Deftly blending explorative history and portraits of a unique and vibrant culture with intimate accounts of racism, The Roma is a celebration of survival – of resilience and resistance in the face of prejudice and persecution.