The Devil’s Dyke band, late 1970s, courtesy of Jen Green

The city of Brighton has long been known as a welcoming city, yet it is also a place of persisting inequalities and injustices. Brighton Bound, a new book co-authored by Sussex academics in collaboration with the local community, sheds light on the joys and struggles of Brightonians over the past century.

Published by QueenSpark Books, a local history publisher, the book is a collaborative effort between the community and Assistant Professor Cath Senker (School of Law, Politics and Sociology), Professor Ben Rogaly (School of Global Studies) and Dr Amy Clarke (School of Law, Politics and Sociology).

Cath Senker says: “It was such a stimulating project bringing together QueenSpark Books' archive of stories of ordinary people moving to and around Brighton with interviews with people from various walks of life who've come to the city in more recent years. One chapter starts with people moving from the inner-city slums to the newly built Moulsecoomb estates in the 1920s and ends with the stories of university-student renters in the same area a century later.”

Ben Rogaly says: “Brighton Bound was very much a labour of love. It drew on the generosity of a huge number of people, including many who provided photographs on request covering topics ranging from the anti-fascist demonstration in Brighton in August 2024 to an on-campus Brighton Festival event exploring the politics of Black, queer and trans resistance. As authors we worked hard to steer a path for the book that, on the one hand, appreciates what has long made Brighton & Hove attractive to existing residents and newcomers, and, on the other, highlights challenges the city continues to face, such as structural racism (in part a legacy of colonial history), and a housing crisis that has caused many to leave the city or be unable to move here in the first place. Readers will be able to judge how much we succeeded.”

At an upcoming seminar organised by the Sussex Centre for Migration Research on Wednesday 5 February, from 2pm to 3pm, the authors will present extracts from the book, followed by a Q&A. Further details will be announced in due course.

Brighton Bound is available from City Books, Kemptown Bookshop and QueenSpark Books, and in the University Library and Brighton and Hove libraries.

This work supports the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 10 (reduced inequalities) and SDG 11 (sustainaible cities and communities). You can read more about our work on the SDGs here.