A minority report

In its lucidly written detail, Half American is a valuable and eye-opening social history of the second World War from a uniquely different perspective

Half American: The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad

Author: Matthew F Delmont

Publisher: Penguin

Pages: 374

Price:  Rs 2,600

Tucked in almost unnoticed among the celebrities attending Barack Obama’s first presidential inauguration was a group of elderly African-Americans in military uniform. They were the survivors of the fabled Tuskegee Airmen, the first all-black fighter squadron in the American air force, that performed with flying colours over Italy during World War II.
 
Their presence at the inauguration of America’s first African American president was more than a token racial message. The Tuskegee Airmen were not just