The Sable Doughboys [Mass Market Paperback]

Tom Willard (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 1998 | Series: Black Sabre Chronicles (Book 2)

Tom Willard began the compelling saga of African-American fighting men and their wives in book one of The Black Sabre Chronicles, the highly acclaimed Buffalo Soldiers. In The Sable Doughboys, the second edition of the chronicles, Willard continues that captivating story as he takes us back to World War I and the sons of Sergeant Major Augustus Sharps, the great "buffalo soldier" of the Western Indian wars. Continuing their father's valiant fighting tradition, the two young men withstand vicious racial attacks in order to endure the first Negro officer training program.

Once officers of the 93rd Division in 1917-18, however, Adrian and David Sharps face war on two fronts: They are subjected to racial hatred and violence on the home front as they prepare to face death in the horrors of trench warfare in the battle of the Meuse-Agronne on the Western Front of France.

The Sable Doughboys is an engrossing story of uncommon courage and fortitude-unheralded hallmarks of the African-American soldier in America's wars.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Following Buffalo Soldiers (1996), the first volume in a series of novels about the history of blacks in the U.S. military, comes the second installment, which deals with soldiers in World War I. David and Adrian Sharps are admitted to officers training school in preparation for leading black divisions in the dreadful struggle taking place on trench-filled and blood-drenched European soil. After their instruction and preparation, the two brothers are dispatched certainly not to the glories but to the gore of France, where slaughter of soldiers is the current name of the game. One brother returns stateside; the other one does not. The story of David and Adrian is not only the story of the alive-one-minute-but-perhaps-dead-the-next plight of every doughboy but also of the added weight of discrimination based on the color of their skin. Despite awkward phrasing and stilted dialogue, the narrative is grounded in authentic historic detail and moves with entertaining flow. For all readers of popular fiction with historical and sociological underpinnings. Brad Hooper --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

An engrossing follow-up to Buffalo Soldiers (1996), the first in a series documenting the black experience in America's postCivil War military. Despite their age, Adrian and David Sharps (who served as youngsters with their sergeant major father in the Army's fin-de- siŠcle campaigns throughout Cuba) are allowed to reenlist as officer candidates when the US enters WW I. Along with other young black men, the sons of Augustus (a proud veteran of the 10th Cavalry) and Selona (his strong-willed wife) encounter a discouraging amount of prejudice. Selona and Augustus temporarily leave the family home in Arizona to help their lads over the jumps at a segregated training camp in Des Moines. Posted as lieutenants to the 93rd Division's 372nd Infantry Regiment, the boys ship out for France in the spring of 1918. Upon landing in St. Nazaire, however, the combat-ready troops are lumbered with stevedoring duties on the local docks. Risking courts-martial, Adrian and David besiege the chain of command to secure a battlefield assignment for their men. Fighting Germans alongside a Foreign Legion unit, the Sharps brothers survive the quotidian shocks of trench warfare on the Western Front until the Meuse-Argonne offensive. During this bloody but decisive engagement, David loses his life and Adrian is gravely wounded (albeit not before winning a Croix de Guerre and DSC). Invalided back to the States minus his left arm, Adrian still has the battered sword Augustus presented to him. At the close, in 1943, Adrian passes the weapon on to his own son, who's home on leave after qualifying as an Army Air Corps pilot at Tuskegee Institute. A fine addition to the author's generation-spanning saga, which, without undue fanfare, offers object lessons in such virtues as fidelity, honor, and tradition as well as a full measure of pulse-pounding action. (Radio satellite tour) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books (February 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812551060
• ISBN-13: 978-0812551068
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,704,627 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good addition to the series., February 19, 1998

By 

Lance K. Mertz "Fantasy and Sci-Fi Reader" (Kent, Washington) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sable Doughboys (Mass Market Paperback)

I liked the book and its premise, though if you read the prequel you can skip the flashbacks as they are word for word from the prior book. The sotry moves well and is historically accurate and portrays the conditions of the time well. Any soldier will like these stories, though I wish he had the new generation being a tanker instead of a flyboy!! I recommend it.

5.0 out of 5 stars Fair treatment for the troops?, May 11, 2003

By 

The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers (RAWSISTAZ.com and BlackBookReviews.net) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sable Doughboys (Black Sabre Chronicles/Tom Willard, Bk 2) (Hardcover)

Tom Willard's THE SABLE DOUGHBOYS is a continuation of his previous book, The Buffalo Soldiers. Augustus Sharps and his sons are now faced with World War 1. Selona Sharps, wife and mother, is very distressed and wonders aloud how black men can want to go to Europe and fight for the freedom of white men they've never met when they do not have freedom at home. Almost everyday there is news of a Colored soldier being beaten or lynched. Augustus and his two sons, Adrian and David are of the mind of Frederick Douglas: if black men are ever to be accepted as equals they must fight along side the white men of America.

Once Adrian and David reach France everything their mother muttered about comes true. Even though they are officers, white sergeants have more say in what happens to their troops than they do. The sergeants run the military and when Adrian objects to either he or his men being referred to as boys or niggers, he and his men are assigned the worst duty available. The Colored troops are also forbidden to associate with the French women. The frustrations mount as the war progresses and friends are killed or wounded.

Willard has written a biting story about war and race in America. It grabs your attention from the first page and has you looking forward to his next book. It should be mandatory reading in high school history classes.

Reviewed by Alice Holman
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

5.0 out of 5 stars A BIT OF HISTORY IN FICTION, October 28, 2000

By 

RODNEY TRIPP - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sable Doughboys (Mass Market Paperback)

If you missed this story when the 1st book came out, BUFFALO SOLDIER, you missed a great begining in a new series. I reviewed the Wings of Honor also. These books by Tom Willard are great fiction. I really can not understand why the books have not caught on. The historical content maybe much for some, but trust me, once you start with the first book, you will not want to let go. Is it about Black American in the military; yes it is. But it is much more, very much more. Go out and read for yourself and enjoy.

You want be sorry.

Tripp