‘Having memorials that validate and legitimise the lives of people who did terrible things is inappropriate’ – Historian David Olusoga

It was the largest forced migration of people in history and England was at its centre.

As well as shaping the history of Africa, America and Europe, a new audit by Historic England into the transatlantic slave economy brings together previous research to examine the extent its legacy can be seen around the country, from buildings and streets, to monuments and graveyards.

We spoke to historian and broadcaster David Olusoga, the author of Black and British: A Forgotten History, and began by suggesting this report had been brought into sharp relief by the downing of the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol last summer.