Ira Aldridge: trailblazing Shakespearean actor, playwright, abolitionist, acclaimed and feted across nineteenth century Europe.

Matthew Henson: the first man ever to reach the North Pole, after eighteen years of successive attempts.

Frantz Fanon: revolutionary psychologist and political philosopher, a forefather of modern post-colonial theory.

Malcolm X: firebrand leader in the American civil rights movement, an icon in the fight for racial justice.

Justin Fashanu: gifted sportsman and notorious showman, the first professional footballer in the world to come out publicly as gay.

What do these five men, separated by centuries and continents, have in common? The Strangers tells their stories one by one: as pioneers who made history in their fields, and as sensitive, often solitary individuals moving through a hostile world. And it locates them within the vibrant, restless, richly detailed landscape of Black art, culture, history and politics over the past several centuries.