White War, Black Soldiers: Two African Accounts of World War I

Description

Strength and Goodness (Force-Bonte) by Bakary Diallo is one of the only memoirs of World War I ever written or published by an African. It remains a pioneering work of African literature as well as a unique and invaluable historical document about colonialism and Africa's role in the Great War. Lamine Senghor's The Rape of a Country (La Violation d'un pays) is another pioneering French work by a Senegalese veteran of World War I, but one that offers a stark contrast to Strength and Goodness. Both are made available for the first time in English in this edition, complete with a glossary of terms and a general historical introduction. The centennial of World War I is an ideal moment to present Strength and Goodness and The Rape of a Country to a wider, English-reading public. Until recently, Africa's role in the war has been neglected by historians and largely forgotten by the general public. Euro-centric versions of the war still predominate in popular culture, Many historians, however, now insist that African participation in the 1914-18 War is a large part of what made that conflict a world war.

George Robb is Professor of History, William Paterson University. Nancy Erber is Professor Emerita of English, City University of New York. William Peniston is Librarian and Archivist, The Newark Museum of Art.

"White War, Black Soldiers is a terrific read, from start to finish, and addresses such an important gap in our knowledge about Africa, Africans, and WWI. The editors offer a rich, balanced and nuanced account not just of the historical contexts in which to read these texts but also of how we should approach themin all their complexity. Diallo's text nicely defies a neat postcolonial reading and helps us appreciate the historical contingencies and variations of interwar 'radicalism'. It also of course helps students confront the ongoing whiteness of WWI studies." -- Antoinette Burton, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign "With a comprehensive scholarly introduction that contextualizes the service of African men within European-led colonial armies, this book presents two extremely rare personal accounts by African soldiers who fought in the First World War. The early twentieth century writings of Senegalese war veterans Bakary Diallo and Lamine Senghor, here published in English for the first time, illustrate the global nature of the conflict. This is a must-read for anyone interested in the Great War or African History ." Timothy Stapleton, University of Calgary, author of Africa: War and Conflict in the Twentieth Century (2018) "White War, Black Soldiers provides us with important primary documents (previously available only in French) and valuable historical context to dramatically improve our knowledge and understanding of the African experience in World War I. By bringing the experiences and perspectives of Bakary Diallo and Lamine Senghor to an English-speaking audience, Robb has provided world historians, Africanists, and secondary teachers alike with a valuable tool to help address students' (and general readers') lack of awareness that anyone other than Europeans were involved in the First World War.." Jonathan Reynolds, Northern Kentucky University "[This] rare and important book provides valuable African perspectives on World War I. Robb's analysisand Erber and Peniston's English translationof Senegalese soldier Bakary Diallo's Strength and Goodness (1926) further deconstructs the false binary of resistor/collaborator in African colonial history." Ronald Lamothe, Lesley University "[I]t is to be welcomed that these two texts from French West Africa are becoming available to Anglophone readers who usually rely on sources from Anglophone Africa. The contradictory positions of the two authors in this book will inspire much discussion in classes on colonialism, and they contribute insights on the wider impact of World War I in the colonial empires." Raffael Scheck, Colby College, in the International Journal of African Historical Studies "[A] welcome addition to the growing effort to bring African voices from World War I to an English-language reading public. . . . Robb does well to provide a considered introduction for these two excellent translations, carefully undertaken by Nancy Eber and William Peniston. Robb provides much useful background on the colonial project, its African armies and constabularies, as well as experiences and attitudes of Africans during the Great War and after. "[T]aken together, these two accounts match very well the reality of postwar experiences of African veterans of World War I, as contradictory as they might first appear. . . Robb puts it well in his introduction: such veterans might best 'be seen as trying to negotiate between two cultures' (p. 37). In presenting these two complementary translations, White War, Black Soldiers succeeds in illustrating the totality of the altogether human reactions of Africans who experienced the First World War." Melvin E. Page, on H-Africa, H-Net Reviews