Lost Battalions: The Great War and the Crisis of American Nationality

A National Book Award finalist examines the United States’ turbulent history of ethnic assimilation and racial strife through the experiences of two
legendary World War I regiments

During the bloodiest days of World War I, no soldiers served more valiantly than the 369th Infantry—the fabled Harlem Hellfighters—and the legendary “lost battalion” composed of New York City immigrants drawn from the 77th Division. At separate times during the war, both units found themselves cut off behind enemy lines, lost, in fierce battles that claimed the lives of more than half the men from each unit.
As Richard Slotkin follows the Negro soldiers of the 369th and the Jewish, Italian, and other immigrants of the 77th into combat, he depicts an America where these soldiers were viewed as lesser citizens. Even after they demonstrated their loyalty and bravery, nothing changed. They had lived up to their side of the bargain, earning the right to first-class citizenship. But the America to which they returned chose to maintain and even extend the laws and patterns of social behavior that had stigmatized these men. Denied benefits, further armed forces employment, and basic respect, these heroes were treated with utter indifference. But the soldiers’ sacrifices were not entirely in vain. Their struggle to create consensus in favor of ethnic and racial pluralism would finally prevail, the first engagement in a fight for equal rights that would last half a century.
Both a riveting combat narrative and a brilliant social history, Lost Battalions delivers a stinging reminder of how unattainable the ideals of America often were for those who fought hardest to preserve them.