- Paris: Payot & Cie, 1919, “troisieme mille”, octavo, [6] [7] - 256, [2 blank] pp., original yellow printed paper wrappers, some dustiness to wraps, else very good.This book was an important source book for W. E. B. Du Bois’ The Black Man and the Wounded World: A History of the Negro Race in the World War and After, the work was of great personal importance to Du Bois, however, it remained unfinished. In the years during and immediately following World War I, W.E.B. Du Bois was deeply involved in organizing and writing a multi-volume work on the role of African Americans in the American Expeditionary Force. He hoped that African-Americans, through their participation in the conflict, would finally achieve their full rights of citizenship in the country they helped to defend. As Du Bois progressed on his work, he expanded his hopes that the participation of the soldiers of the African diaspora in the European conflict would result in the end of colonialism in Africa and better treatment for members of the African diaspora worldwide. The book also influenced Du Bois’ own burgeoning Pan African movement which engaged him simultaneously, organizing two Pan-African Congresses in Paris and Lisbon. Part of this inspiration came from the book offered here. Alphonse Séché was a well-known Parisian journalist, poet, and playwright. He had commanded a regiment of Senegalese soldiers during the war. The book offered here is a combination memoir, history, and propaganda concerning the place of African… more >