The little-known history of black soldiers and defense workers in the First World War, and what happened afterward: “Highly recommended.” —Choice In one of the few book-length treatments of the subject, historian Nina Mjagkij conveys the full range of the African American experience during the “Great War.” Prior to World War I, most African Americans did not challenge the racial status quo. But nearly 370,000 black soldiers served in the military during the war, and some 400,000 black civilians migrated from the rural South to the urban North for defense jobs. Following the war, emboldened by their military service and their support of the war on the home front, African Americans were determined to fight for equality—but struggled in the face of indifference and hostility in spite of their combat-veteran status. America would soon be forced to confront the impact of segregation and racism—beginning a long, dramatic reckoning that continues over a century later. “Painstakingly describes the frustration, sometimes anger, and frequent courage demonstrated by southern and northern African Americans in their attempts to include themselves in the national crusade of making the world safe for democracy . . . one of the most comprehensive treatments of the race issue in the early twentieth century that this reader has seen.” —Journal of Southern History

A Question of Loyalty plunges into the seven-week Washington trial of Gen. William "Billy" Mitchell, the hero of the U.S. Army Air Service during World War I and the man who proved in 1921 that planes could sink a battleship. In 1925 Mitchell was frustrated by the slow pace of aviation development, and he sparked a political firestorm, accusing the army and navy high commands -- and by inference the president -- of treason and criminal negligence in the way they conducted national defense. He was put on trial for insubordination in a spectacular court-martial that became a national obsession during the Roaring Twenties. Uncovering a trove of new letters, diaries, and confidential documents, Douglas Waller captures the drama of the trial and builds a rich and revealing biography of Mitchell.

Looks at the experiences of African Americans during World War I, including the discrimination faced by African American soldiers, the training of troops, and their deployment to France.

With Malice toward Some: Treason and Loyalty in the Civil War Era

Loyalty On Trial reveals that Arthur Wolter was accused of being the "power behind the throne" of an organization targeted by J. Edgar Hoover during WWII as subversive and un-American. Referenced in the index files of the House Special Committee on un-American Activities as the "poet laureate of the German American Bund," Wolter's writings were used against him in the government's attempt to revoke his citizenship. In an effort to assure Americans during WWII that the homeland was secure from subversives and potential saboteurs, the loyalty of German Americans was challenged by the FBI, which in turn raised issues of civil liberties that would ultimately be heard by the United States Supreme Court.

Contains primary source material.