Jason Okundaye begins Revolutionary Acts by likening the process of researching Black British history as a “race against time” to refute the resigning of fractured and fragile archives, documents, and records to anonymity – and with them the lives of individuals and communities. Revolutionary Acts takes a gorgeous trip throughout recent British history through the eyes of elder Black gay men who lived through it, in a striking historical gem that puts their voices at the heart of the narrative.

Okundaye is acutely aware of the need to document these accounts, with heart, time, and character, which shine through his writing beautifully. There’s a remarkable attraction to the framing of the book – a twentysomething author looking back, passionate about keeping history alive, taking it upon himself to sketch this part of history and those who lived it. His book eagerly and lovingly illustrates a world friendship and connection against a prevailing marginalisation and apathetic backdrop of 20th-century Britain, with chapters that allude to its extraordinarily adroit and important range, with passages focusing on love, desire, pleasure, as well as dissent and liberation.

It’s an important and cohesive work that shimmers with the voices of those interviewed and the author himself, reflecting the intimacy of these oral histories and the bonds nurtured by these. Revolutionary Acts rightly deserves its recognition, weaving together an intergenerational journey through a part of British history rarely afforded attention.