MWSA Review

In the biography of Eugene Bullard, All Blood Runs Red, authors Phil Keith and Tom Clavin give us an excellent glimpse into the life of a truly fascinating individual. At first glance, Bullard's life story seems to be more of what creates legends or movies than what a single person could experience. He may be one of the most important Americans who lived in the twentieth century, but most of us today have little or no knowledge of him.

Born in Georgia in 1895, the grandson of a slave and son of a laborer, Bullard ran away from home during his early teen years and somehow managed to work his way to France over the next couple of years. For the next forty years, he lived for the most part in Paris before returning to the United States. Bullard fought for the French in World War I, first in the infantry and then—after being injured—as a fighter pilot. Before and after that war, he was a boxer, a musician, and a night club owner. He became friends with a plethora of celebrities to include Hemmingway, Josephine Baker, Louis Armstrong, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Cole Porter, Fred Astaire, and more. As World War II approached, he spied on the Germans for the French intelligence service. When the Germans reached Paris, he returned to the front and fought again with the French infantry. Bullard received numerous French medals to include the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. This is a good book that I recommend you read.

Review by Bob Doerr (May 2020)

Author's Synopsis

Eugene Bullard lived one of the most fascinating lives of the twentieth century. The son of a former slave and an indigenous Creek woman, Bullard fled home at the age of eleven to escape the racial hostility of his Georgia community. When his journey led him to Europe, he garnered worldwide fame as a boxer, and later as the first African American fighter pilot in history.

After the war, Bullard returned to Paris a celebrated hero. But little did he know that the dramatic, globe-spanning arc of his life had just begun.

All Blood Runs Red is the inspiring untold story of an American hero, a thought-provoking chronicle of the twentieth century and a portrait of a man who came from nothing and by his own courage, determination, gumption, intelligence and luck forged a legendary life.

ISBN/ASIN: ISBN-13: 978-1335005564, UNSPSC Code: 55111505, B07S39G478
Book Format(s): Hard cover, Kindle, Audiobook
Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography
Number of Pages: 352