Peter Nelson

“A thrilling story of the heroes and horrors of war, A More Unbending Battle restores the overlooked Harlem Hellfighters to their rightful glory. Peter Nelson has brought to life an extraordinarily pivotal moment in the history not only of World War I, but of race in the American consciousness.”—Henry Louis Gates, Jr, Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University

"Having watched the Tuskegee Airmen receive their due respect some 60 years after they served, I congratulate Peter Nelson's A More Unbending Battle for the respect it gives to an earlier and equally deserving group of American patriots. This book, long overdue, makes an invaluable contribution to American and African-American military history." —Marilyn Nelson, Corretta Scott King and three-time National Book Award honoree and author of Carver: A Life in Poems and A Wreath for Emmett Till.

“Nelson seamlessly interweaves the military narrative with vivid firsthand accounts… The Hellfighters fought a war on two fronts and displayed incredible fortitude in the face of prejudice, racial violence and the ever-present gas and machine-gun fire. Nelson offers a nuanced, in-depth portrait of this group of ordinary men who fought with inspiring courage and dignity. A valuable addition to World War I and civil-rights scholarship on a subject too frequently overlooked.” —Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2009