Decolonising My Body
A Forgotten History of Beauty
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Vintage Publishing
Publishing:4th Sep '25
£10.99
This title is due to be published on 4th September, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
This paperback is available in another edition too:
- Hardback£20.00(9781529908664)

‘Exceptionally rich, inspiring, challenging’Bernardine Evaristo |‘Something on every page that you didn't know before’Sathnam Sanghera |‘Celebrates women how they are, as they are’ |Gillian Anderson
Our bodies tell our story. This powerful global history of beauty by Sunday Times bestselling Brit(tish) author Afua Hirsch dismantles the colonial falsehoods that shape our sense of belonging and celebrates the pioneering stories and ideas of women from marginalised groups.
‘A remarkable journey to unlearn western beauty standards and explore ancestral skin, hair and body modification rituals’ Funmi Fetto, Observer
‘A vital, challenging account of reassessing body image beyond the colonial, patriarchal gaze’ I newspaper
‘A generous offering, and a joy filled testimony’ Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah, author of The Sex Lives of African Women
Exceptionally rich, inspiring, challenging, wise and moving. I didn't realise I needed this book until I read it and felt stirrings towards my own ancestral awakening of African female cultural beliefs and practices that were sadly long ago lost to the colonial project. This is a ground-breaking book that speaks to all women. * Bernardine Evaristo, author of 'Girl, Woman, Other' *
There's something on every page of this book that you didn't know before, or makes you look at things a new. An important publication.
Decolonising my Body is both a generous offering, and a joy filled testimony. Afua skilfully pulls us into her world, and generously allows us to accompany her on a journey of questioning and unpacking notions of beauty. This exploration lights a path for all people who seek to (re)connect with more expansive understandings of beauty.
Afua has cut through so much of the noise to provide an enlightening and necessary reflection on how we can learn from the wisdom and beauty of our ancestors to become spiritually healthier humans. This book is a knowledge gift to us all. * Naomi Evans, author of 'The Mixed Race Experience', co-Founder of Everyday Racism *
The journalist, commentator and author of Brit(ish) reflects on twelve months radical unlearning of Eurocentric and patriarchal conventions of beauty in this powerful and challenging volume. * Waterstones, 'Best Books of 2023: Politics' *
A remarkable journey to unlearn western beauty standards and explore ancestral skin, hair and body modification rituals. * Observer *
Disarmingly honest... quietly radical * Evening Standard *
Praise for Brit(ish): Highly personal and yet instantly universal, this is a book that millions will instantly relate to. The book for our divided and dangerous times. * David Olusoga, author of 'Black and British' *
Praise for Brit(ish): A warm, informative and occasionally heart-wrenching blend of personal and political and the messiness between the two' * Nikesh Shukla, author of 'The Good Immigrant' *
ISBN: 9781529954197
Dimensions: 198mm x 129mm x 15mm
Weight: 200g
240 pages