The Black Swallow of Death The Incredible Story of Eugene Jacques Bullard, the World's First Black Combat Aviator

CARISELLA, P. J. and James W. Ryan

Published by Marlborough House, Inc, Boston, 1972

Small 4to. Pp. xi, [3], 271. Foreword by Senator Edward Brooke. Illustrated with several black-and-white photo reproductions. Bibliography. Bound in blue cloth with red metallic lettering stamped on front board and spine. In the color-illustrated dust jacket that has two old tape reinforcements to verso of head and tail of spine; price of $6.95 intact on front flap. The Escradille Americaine, a World War I volunteer air squadron, began to fly for the French armed forces in April 1916. Its exploits soon captured the attention of many young Americans intrigued by nascent advances in aviation, and the exoticism of flying under the French tri-color.Eugene Bullard was among them, although his precarious route to the cockpit was fraught with barriers put to most African-Americans. All told, 200 Yank flyers served in the Escadrille Americaine/Lafayette Flying Corps.The flyers' respective contributions to aviation before and after the war cannot be overstated, nor their hero status: In post-WWI Paris they were feted as long as they chose to be; for Bullard, that cachet and the absence of the racism he knew as a youth, was great reward. He was among cafe society's Lost Generation, owned a nightclub, married into French nobility, and then served in French intelligence.The lettering on the front board reads "tout sang qui coule est rouge," or "all blood runs red." A handsome copy with dust jacket now housed in a removable, clear archival sleeve. Seller Inventory # 7272

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Black Swallow of Death The Incredible ...
Publisher: Marlborough House, Inc, Boston
Publication Date: 1972
Binding: Hardcover with Dust Jacket
Illustrator: George Evans
Condition: Near Fine
Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
Edition: First Edition.