"Black history is a series of missing chapters from history," writes the historian David Olusoga. This month he will give a talk in Manchester to celebrate Black History Month.

But it is not just about history. English literature, says novelist Chimamanda Ngozi AdichieA Nigerian author known for her novels Americanah and Half of a Yellow Sun. , makes Black readers feel "silenced and invisible". The Black people in novels she read at schools were never heroes.

But over the past decades, award-winning and best-selling Black authors have changed the world of books. Here are six of the best:

1. Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo. A warm and funny novel about the many ways to be a Black woman. It explores race, feminism and sexuality through the lives of 12 characters. "A master class in storytelling," says the American writer Roxane Gay.

2. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi. We need more "black girl fantasy", says Adeyemi. Nigerian mythology and the Black Lives MatterA political movement which aims to challenge police brutality and racism towards black people all across the world, usually using protests and other means of activism. movement inspired this epic tale, often compared to The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones.

3. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. One sister sold into slavery, the other married to a slave trader. Gyasi follows their story across three continents and seven generations, from an Asante village in Ghana to Harlem, New York. "History," Gyasi writes, "is Storytelling".

4. Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam. In 1989, Salaam went to prison for a crime he did not commit. In this brilliant book, he teams up with poet Ibi Zoboi to turn his personal history into fiction. It explores racial injustice in the United States.

5. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. In the 1800s, thousands of people fled slavery in the American South.¹ The escape route was called the underground railroad. In this fantastical novel, Whitehead imagines real trains running from slavery to freedom. The main character Cora makes this terrifying journey north.

6. Windrush Child by Benjamin Zephaniah. Leonard is aged ten when he moves from Jamaica to England as part of the WindrushThe ship MV Empire Windrush arrived in Britain in 1948, bringing workers from Caribbean countries to the UK to fill post-war labour shortages. generation.² This beautiful book follows his story of making a new home in Britain.

Yes: The African American novelist James Baldwin said history is more than just something in textbooks. It is alive in everyone. To understand it, you must listen to people's stories.

No: During Black History Month, we should read non-fiction. History is fact. Novels are lies. If we want to learn from the past, we must understand the difference between stories and history.

Or... History is the study of things people have written. We must treat novels like all historical documents: who wrote them and why? Can their version of events be trusted?

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - A Nigerian author known for her novels Americanah and Half of a Yellow Sun.

Black Lives Matter - A political movement which aims to challenge police brutality and racism towards black people all across the world, usually using protests and other means of activism.

Windrush - The ship MV Empire Windrush arrived in Britain in 1948, bringing workers from Caribbean countries to the UK to fill post-war labour shortages.