On August 25th 1914, a group of young Americans joined the Foreign
Legion and "with a cowboy swing" marched through Paris, wildly
cheered by the crowd. They were the first Americans in the Great
War, and this is the intimate story of three of those young men: *
David Wooster King - a 21-year-old dropout from Harvard and son of
a rich businessman whose family can be traced back to Mayflower. *
Alan Seeger - a 26-year-old poet and a dreamer from New York and a
family of highly educated intellectuals. His ancestors too, can be
traced back to start of the American nation. * Eugene James Bullard
- a 19-year-old entertainer and boxer from Columbus, Georgia. His
father was born a slave and his mother was Creek Indian. King ended
up as an officer in the US Army chasing German spies in Switzerland
in 1918. Later, he became a modern global adventurer, met rulers
across the world and was sent to Casablanca in 1941 as the very
first OSS agent reporting to President Roosevelt. In Casablanca, as
a real-world Rick Blaine, King paved the way for General Patton and
the Allied invasion of North Africa. Eugene Bullard too survived
the war years. He was wounded at Verdun and invalided out of the
French Army but despite all odds he became the world's first black
aviator. After the war, he married a young French woman and settled
in Paris where he opened a bar. In the roaring 20s he was
surrounded by every artist and intellectual of the day from
Hemingway to Louis Armstrong. Bullard fought for the French again
in 1940 before he was wounded and had to flee to New York with his
two children. Here he was ignored except by the first lady Eleanor
Roosevelt. The French never forgot him, and Bullard ignited the
eternal flame at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris in 1954 and was
kissed on both cheeks by President Charles de Gaulle. The third
legionnaire, Seeger, was not so lucky as his two comrades. He was
killed during the Battle of the Somme on July 4, 1916. However, six
weeks earlier, he wrote the famous poem, 'I Have A Rendezvous with
Death' which was to become his legacy. President Kennedy's daughter
Caroline recited it for her father six weeks before his fateful
trip to Dallas in November 1963, and the poem has since inspired a
line of American presidents during the 20th century. It has become
an indestructible poetic lifeline linking France and the United
States of America. The three young Americans, rooted in the nation,
each has an amazing story to tell. But when their adventures are
brought together we get a three-dimensional perspective on how
America broke its isolation from the world and started to unite as
a nation during the 20th century. The three men represent different
pillars of the American soul, and their lives and dreams symbolise
the story of how America became modern and remind us of the strong
historic ties between France and America. Most of all, this book is
a fantastic saga full of brave men, great adventures and terrific
sacrifices that bring hope and a new direction in a time of human
division.
General
Imprint: |
Pen & Sword Military
|
Country of origin: |
United Kingdom |
Release date: |
June 2023 |
Authors: |
Nils Elmark
|
Dimensions: |
234 x 156mm (L x W) |
Format: |
Hardcover
|
Pages: |
224 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-399-06915-1 |
Categories: |
Books >
Humanities >
History >
General
Books >
History >
General
|
LSN: |
1-399-06915-2 |
Barcode: |
9781399069151 |
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