Half American: The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad

Winner of the 2023 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in Nonfiction • A New York Times Notable Book• A Best Book of the Year from TIME, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Washington Independent Review of Books, and more!The definitive history of World War II from the African American perspective, written by civil rights expert and Dartmouth history professor Matthew Delmont“Matthew F.

Delmont’ s book is filled with compelling narratives that outline with nuance, rigor, and complexity how Black Americans fought for this country abroad while simultaneously fighting for their rights here in the United States.

Half American belongs firmly within the canon of indispensable World War II books.” —Clint Smith, #1 New York Times bestselling author of How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across AmericaOver one million Black men and women served in World War II.

Black troops were at Normandy, Iwo Jima, and the Battle of the Bulge, serving in segregated units and performing unheralded but vital support jobs, only to be denied housing and educational opportunities on their return home.

Without their crucial contributions to the war effort, the United States could not have won the war.

And yet the stories of these Black veterans have long been ignored, cast aside in favor of the myth of the “Good War” fought by the “Greatest Generation.”Half American is American history as you’ve likely never read it before.