Torchbearers of Democracy : African American Soldiers in the World War I Era.

"I done my part and I'm going to fight right here till Uncle Sam does his," a black veteran of WW I reflected; he was not "looking for trouble," but he would not be "dodging" trouble if it came, he added. The pride in service, the ambivalence about that service to Uncle Sam, the desire to go about his life without "trouble," and the willingness to fight in self-defense when trouble came: such was the complicated world of African American servicemen, both over here and over there during the Great War, which Williams (Hamilton College) covers in abundant detail in this indispensable book. Bits and pieces of this story may be found in a variety of other histories, but none to date have put the entire story together with the comprehensiveness, care, research, and insight of this hefty work. The politics behind the formation of the Army's segregated 92nd Infantry Division, the humiliating labor gangs at home that awaited numerous black draftees who sought glory but found instead near-slave labor, the tenuous relationship between black colonials abroad, the struggle between a racist "history" and black "memory" after the war--Williams tells all that, and much more. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. P. Harvey University of Colorado at Colorado Springs