American Patriots

March 26, 2001
This work complements Bernard Nalty's academically oriented history of blacks in America's wars, Strength for the Fight
(1986), and Gerald Astor's narrative account, The Right to Fight
(1998). Basing her account heavily on interviews and similar primary material, Buckley focuses on the particular experiences of black soldiers. She pulls no punches in describing discrimination against black soldiers, misrepresentation of their performances and denial of their achievements. But in a dominant culture that for much of its history was overtly segregated and highly racist, the pressures of necessity opened military service to blacks. It began as an individual process during the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. By the end of the Civil War, the Union army counted its black soldiers in entire divisions and army corps. Black regiments, regulars and volunteers, served in the Plains Indian Wars and in the wars of empire at the century's turn. During the First World War, black troops won more credit under French colors than a segregated American Expeditionary Force would allow. Some black activists of the interwar years correspondingly turned to the revolutionary promises of Communism, playing a role in the Spanish Civil War's International Brigades, which Buckley arguably exaggerates. WWII was America's last segregated conflict. In Buckley's account the armed forces have succeeded in acknowledging past racism, while proving that liberal values like equality of treatment and opportunity are able to coexist with conservative ones like duty, honor and patriotism. (On-sale date: May 15)Forecast:Buckley, daughter of Lena Horne (and author of
The Hornes), should have no trouble getting media attention on her six-city tour. Military history buffs and a broader readership interested in African-American history will turn out to buy this.

May 1, 2001
Drawing a thread from the story of her own forebears, which she spun in The Hornes: An American Family (LJ 7/86. o.p.), journalist Buckley (Vogue, Los Angeles Times) tells the stirring story of blacks in the U.S. military, both at home and abroad, from the 1770s to the 1990s. The author reviews the experiences of Crispus Attucks and his fellow blacks during the Revolutionary War, the 54th Massachusetts Regiment in the Civil War, the Buffalo Soldiers of the Indians Wars, the 369th Regiment (the most decorated U.S. unit of World War I), and many more. Buckley's 11 chapters portray blacks fighting in and against the U.S. military as well as against racism in the belief that they could make a difference and improve their own lives and their country's heritage by pushing it closer to its own promise of freedom. This readable, spirited story deserves a place in every U.S. history collection, as well as in the black or military collections, which will find it essential. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 1/01.] Thomas J. Davis, Arizona State Univ., Tempe

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2001
Buckley, who is Lena Horne's daughter, surveys how the U.S. military, "once one of the most racist public institutions in America," evolved to "afford blacks personal, cultural, and social validity far above the American norm." Based on 14 years of research, including interviews with black men and women who served in the military, this is a powerful story of how blacks fought, inside and outside the military, for human rights and racial justice. Highlighting two black families who trace their U.S. military service from the Revolutionary War onward, she tells the stories of black heroes both well and barely known, stories American history and popular culture have neglected or distorted. She recalls the historical context of American battles--noting, for instance, that one of every five soldiers in the winning of the West was black--and how the wars affected black soldiers and civilians, with black veterans bringing a more combative spirit home after each engagement. Those who enjoyed " Hid"den Heroism: Black Soldiers in America's Wars [BKL Ja 1 & 15 01] will relish this book, too.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)