Customer Reviews

The Sable Doughboys

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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

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 The historical content maybe much for some, but trust me, once you start with the first book, you will not want to let go.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