lokster71's review against another edition
5.0
This is a fantastic book. It's well-written, well-researched and should be essential reading for every school child in Britain.
It's a history of forgetting as much as it is a history of colonialism. It tells the stories of what happened to the colonial troops of Britain and France as well as the African-American soldiers of the United States of America. It talks about the thinking behind their dispatch to the front line and why it was objected to. It tells the stories of their involvement in the fighting and their treatment upon their return.
In a way perhaps the biggest insult is how we have gradually erased these people from our collective memories of World War One. Or how when we do remember them at all it isn't a crosses row on row but in mass graves or statues not as individuals.
I knew some of the stories of the British side of things but the French material was mostly known to me. As was how the Germans used the presence of colonial troops in the Allied Armies to suggest that they were coming to dilute and despoil the white race. The fear of black men mixing with white women is very much to the fore. As is the fear of what would happen in the colonies once you'd taught colonial men to fight against white men. Colonial troops had been used before but they were mainly used to fight other non-white peoples. Now we were going to train them to fight and kill other white men. This fear stood square behind the way African-American troops were treated by the United States too.
Indeed the American section is perhaps the most shocking. Partly because one forgets the epidemic of lynching that was going on in the US before they got involved in the war, partly the way they were treated once they went to war and the absolutely disgusting way they were treated upon their return from the fighting. How their courage was erased from the story to suit a white narrative. This section should be read by every American, especially now. (Although I fear some might approve of it in the current climate.)
The book is also good on some of the myths created by the Allies about the people's who served under them: that there were Indian races more 'martial' than others being the most repeated.
O, perhaps the other most important part of the book is the experience of the Chinese Labourers whose role in World War One has been almost entirely erased from Western memory.
To conclude this is a book everyone should read because everyone should remember.
It's a history of forgetting as much as it is a history of colonialism. It tells the stories of what happened to the colonial troops of Britain and France as well as the African-American soldiers of the United States of America. It talks about the thinking behind their dispatch to the front line and why it was objected to. It tells the stories of their involvement in the fighting and their treatment upon their return.
In a way perhaps the biggest insult is how we have gradually erased these people from our collective memories of World War One. Or how when we do remember them at all it isn't a crosses row on row but in mass graves or statues not as individuals.
I knew some of the stories of the British side of things but the French material was mostly known to me. As was how the Germans used the presence of colonial troops in the Allied Armies to suggest that they were coming to dilute and despoil the white race. The fear of black men mixing with white women is very much to the fore. As is the fear of what would happen in the colonies once you'd taught colonial men to fight against white men. Colonial troops had been used before but they were mainly used to fight other non-white peoples. Now we were going to train them to fight and kill other white men. This fear stood square behind the way African-American troops were treated by the United States too.
Indeed the American section is perhaps the most shocking. Partly because one forgets the epidemic of lynching that was going on in the US before they got involved in the war, partly the way they were treated once they went to war and the absolutely disgusting way they were treated upon their return from the fighting. How their courage was erased from the story to suit a white narrative. This section should be read by every American, especially now. (Although I fear some might approve of it in the current climate.)
The book is also good on some of the myths created by the Allies about the people's who served under them: that there were Indian races more 'martial' than others being the most repeated.
O, perhaps the other most important part of the book is the experience of the Chinese Labourers whose role in World War One has been almost entirely erased from Western memory.
To conclude this is a book everyone should read because everyone should remember.
juliule's review
4.0
An extremely interesting book that does an excellent job of drawing attention to a neglected area of history and of calling out the dominant narratives of WWI for their eurocentricism. It is occasionally a little clunky in style, but by and large it is compellingly written, as Olusoga combines stories about individuals and sweeping birds-eye view explanations, interspersed with modern events that reflect back on the war. Would highly recommend.
oleksandr's review against another edition
5.0
This book addresses less known part of the World War I – namely participation of on-whites in European fronts. It should be noted that while the majority of deaths/wound of the war were European, there were hundreds thousands of other people across the globe, who took part and paid their part in suffering, which was largely forgotten after the war.
Special highlights are for Indian troops of British, French Tirailleur Sénégalais. Also German African campaign of general Lettow-Vorbeck and his Askari. German attempts to subvert Muslims with Jihad, special POW camps for ‘colored’, whom they tried to persuade to rise against their colonial masters – inadvertently they created large early collection of audio clips with natives’ speeches, valuable for modern anthropology.
Also there was participation of Siam and China. The former supplied the most specialized force on the European theatre. The latter ‘lent’ over 200k laborers to work in France – those were responsible for mending the scares of battle after the armistice.
The sad story of US participation also described in detail – sad from the fact that ‘colored’ were able to fight only under French command, no WASP would ‘smear’ himself with black. And when they returned, lynching was on the rise ‘to remind blacks their place’
Special highlights are for Indian troops of British, French Tirailleur Sénégalais. Also German African campaign of general Lettow-Vorbeck and his Askari. German attempts to subvert Muslims with Jihad, special POW camps for ‘colored’, whom they tried to persuade to rise against their colonial masters – inadvertently they created large early collection of audio clips with natives’ speeches, valuable for modern anthropology.
Also there was participation of Siam and China. The former supplied the most specialized force on the European theatre. The latter ‘lent’ over 200k laborers to work in France – those were responsible for mending the scares of battle after the armistice.
The sad story of US participation also described in detail – sad from the fact that ‘colored’ were able to fight only under French command, no WASP would ‘smear’ himself with black. And when they returned, lynching was on the rise ‘to remind blacks their place’
andrewfontenelle's review against another edition
5.0
An excellent and very enlightening history of World War 1, showing how a seemingly European conflict drew in people from right across the globe, with their involvement either at the forefront of battle or in a supporting role.
It is very important to keep in mind that the first shots fired in the First World War occurred in Africa and one should also remember that the war was also fought in Asia.
Sadly the role played by many of people from many diverse cultures and countries have been either downplayed or completely airbrushed from history.
This is a book well worth reading that shows the global nature of the so called 'Great War'.
It is very important to keep in mind that the first shots fired in the First World War occurred in Africa and one should also remember that the war was also fought in Asia.
Sadly the role played by many of people from many diverse cultures and countries have been either downplayed or completely airbrushed from history.
This is a book well worth reading that shows the global nature of the so called 'Great War'.
thecolourblue's review against another edition
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
A wealth of both information and touching human stories that have been left out of most military accounts of WWI. Olusoga has successfully shed light on these remarkable and often ignored non-white soldiers, their stories set against the backdrop of war-torn Europe, Africa, and Asia, playing out under the specters of a paranoid British colonial empire and deeply racist and divided United States.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
lydiaemilyy's review
3.0
I'm really glad that I read this and I learnt a lot. It's super informative and about a really important topic. The writing wasn't all that gripping though and, as Olusoga is covering such a vast topic, at times it became a bit too dense for me. But I am really glad that I've read this and I want to search out the documentary that he presented about this topic.
lokster71's review
5.0
This is a fantastic book. It's well-written, well-researched and should be essential reading for every school child in Britain.
It's a history of forgetting as much as it is a history of colonialism. It tells the stories of what happened to the colonial troops of Britain and France as well as the African-American soldiers of the United States of America. It talks about the thinking behind their dispatch to the front line and why it was objected to. It tells the stories of their involvement in the fighting and their treatment upon their return.
In a way perhaps the biggest insult is how we have gradually erased these people from our collective memories of World War One. Or how when we do remember them at all it isn't a crosses row on row but in mass graves or statues not as individuals.
I knew some of the stories of the British side of things but the French material was mostly known to me. As was how the Germans used the presence of colonial troops in the Allied Armies to suggest that they were coming to dilute and despoil the white race. The fear of black men mixing with white women is very much to the fore. As is the fear of what would happen in the colonies once you'd taught colonial men to fight against white men. Colonial troops had been used before but they were mainly used to fight other non-white peoples. Now we were going to train them to fight and kill other white men. This fear stood square behind the way African-American troops were treated by the United States too.
Indeed the American section is perhaps the most shocking. Partly because one forgets the epidemic of lynching that was going on in the US before they got involved in the war, partly the way they were treated once they went to war and the absolutely disgusting way they were treated upon their return from the fighting. How their courage was erased from the story to suit a white narrative. This section should be read by every American, especially now. (Although I fear some might approve of it in the current climate.)
The book is also good on some of the myths created by the Allies about the people's who served under them: that there were Indian races more 'martial' than others being the most repeated.
O, perhaps the other most important part of the book is the experience of the Chinese Labourers whose role in World War One has been almost entirely erased from Western memory.
To conclude this is a book everyone should read because everyone should remember.
It's a history of forgetting as much as it is a history of colonialism. It tells the stories of what happened to the colonial troops of Britain and France as well as the African-American soldiers of the United States of America. It talks about the thinking behind their dispatch to the front line and why it was objected to. It tells the stories of their involvement in the fighting and their treatment upon their return.
In a way perhaps the biggest insult is how we have gradually erased these people from our collective memories of World War One. Or how when we do remember them at all it isn't a crosses row on row but in mass graves or statues not as individuals.
I knew some of the stories of the British side of things but the French material was mostly known to me. As was how the Germans used the presence of colonial troops in the Allied Armies to suggest that they were coming to dilute and despoil the white race. The fear of black men mixing with white women is very much to the fore. As is the fear of what would happen in the colonies once you'd taught colonial men to fight against white men. Colonial troops had been used before but they were mainly used to fight other non-white peoples. Now we were going to train them to fight and kill other white men. This fear stood square behind the way African-American troops were treated by the United States too.
Indeed the American section is perhaps the most shocking. Partly because one forgets the epidemic of lynching that was going on in the US before they got involved in the war, partly the way they were treated once they went to war and the absolutely disgusting way they were treated upon their return from the fighting. How their courage was erased from the story to suit a white narrative. This section should be read by every American, especially now. (Although I fear some might approve of it in the current climate.)
The book is also good on some of the myths created by the Allies about the people's who served under them: that there were Indian races more 'martial' than others being the most repeated.
O, perhaps the other most important part of the book is the experience of the Chinese Labourers whose role in World War One has been almost entirely erased from Western memory.
To conclude this is a book everyone should read because everyone should remember.
kjcharles's review against another edition
A brilliant work. Olusoga has disinterred the deliberately erased stories of the literally millions of non-white, non-European troops who fought in WW1 on both sides, and the results are jawdropping. Both in the incredible untold/forgotten stories (the Indian VC winners and the Battle of Henry Johnson are astounding) but more in the incredible racial bigotry at play, as both sides weighed up the need for men with the equally urgent need to keep the myth of racial superiority alive in their empires. Which led to the British eg refusing offers of battalions, putting trained soldiers to work digging trenches, segregating and maltreating people who had often come at their own expense to volunteer for the Empire they were supposed to be part of, and them erasing them afterwards to the extent that black troops were literally not given graves, just a mass memorial, in direct contravention of the War Graves Commission's mission statement.
It's honestly sickening at points. The chapter on America exporting its vile race hate to Europe and the way black soldiers were treated during and after the war is beyond anything I'd expected, and I thought my expectations were low. It is really hard not to conclude that the rest of the world should have just sat back and watched Europe and white America kill each other. Especially since Olusoga demonstrates how the racial policies applied by Germany, Britain and America in the war led directly into the development of Nazi racial theory, internment camps, deliberate genocide, and apartheid.
Eye-opening and extremely necessary. Everyone should read this.
It's honestly sickening at points. The chapter on America exporting its vile race hate to Europe and the way black soldiers were treated during and after the war is beyond anything I'd expected, and I thought my expectations were low. It is really hard not to conclude that the rest of the world should have just sat back and watched Europe and white America kill each other. Especially since Olusoga demonstrates how the racial policies applied by Germany, Britain and America in the war led directly into the development of Nazi racial theory, internment camps, deliberate genocide, and apartheid.
Eye-opening and extremely necessary. Everyone should read this.
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