The Wounded World: W.E.B. Du Bois and the First World War, a Discussion with Dr. Chad Williams

Battles of the First World War Podcast

Mike Cunha

History

4.8 • 812 Ratings

🗓️ 4 June 2023

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

From Dr. Williams’ website: When W. E. B. Du Bois, believing in the possibility of full citizenship and democratic change, encouraged African Americans to “close ranks” and support the Allied cause in World War I, he made a decision that would haunt him for the rest of his life. Seeking both intellectual clarity and personal atonement, for more than two decades Du Bois attempted to write the definitive history of Black participation in World War I. His book, however, remained unfinished. In The Wounded World, Chad Williams offers the dramatic account of Du Bois’s failed efforts to complete what would have been one of his most significant works. The surprising story of this unpublished book offers new insight into Du Bois’s struggles to reckon with both the history and the troubling memory of the war, along with the broader meanings of race and democracy for Black people in the twentieth century.

Drawing on a broad range of sources, most notably Du Bois’s unpublished manuscript and research materials, Williams tells a sweeping story of hope, betrayal, disillusionment, and transformation, setting into motion a fresh understanding of the life and mind of arguably the most significant scholar-activist in African American history. In uncovering what happened to Du Bois’s largely forgotten book, Williams offers a captivating reminder of the importance of World War I, why it mattered to Du Bois, and why it continues to matter today.

Where to buy:

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-wounded-world-w-e-b-du-bois-and-the-first-world-war-chad-l-williams/18402495?ean=9780374293154

The BFWWP is on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BattlesoftheFirstWorldWarPodcast.

Any questions, comments or concerns please contact me through the website, www.firstworldwarpodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter at @WW1podcast, the Battles of the First World War Podcast page on FaceBook, and on Instagram at @WW1battlecast. Not into social media? Email me directly at [email protected]. Rate, review, and subscribe to the Battles of the First World War Podcast on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The
0:07.0	The The
0:23.6	The Hey, folks. This is Mike with Battles of the First World War podcast.
0:53.7	Joining us today is Dr. Chad Williams, here to discuss his latest work of history, titled
0:59.4	The Wounded World War, W.E.B. Du Bois and the First World War.
1:04.2	This is an engrossing work on Du Bois, World War I, and the African-American experience in the Great War.
1:14.6	It weaves the events of America's participation in World War I, the African-American experience in the Great War. It weaves the events of America's participation in World War I, the tense state of race relations back in the U.S.,
1:17.6	and the life and writings of Du Bois into a masterfully written history of a time period,
1:23.6	quickly fading into the distant past. I can't wait to get into it. But first, a quick introduction
1:30.8	of Dr. Williams borrowed directly from his website. Dr. Chad Williams is the Samuel J. and Augusta
1:39.0	Spector professor of history and African and American studies at Brandeis University. Chad earned a BA with
1:47.1	honors in history and African American studies from UCLA and received both his master's and
1:52.3	Ph.D. in history from Princeton University. He specializes in African American and modern
1:58.3	United States history, African American military history, the World War I era, and modern United States history, African-American military history, the
2:02.1	World War I era, and African-American intellectual history. His first book, Torchbearers of Democracy,
2:08.7	African-American soldiers in the World War I era, was published in 2010 by the University of North
2:14.1	Carolina Press. Widely praised as a landmark study, Torchbearers of Democracy won the 2011 Liberty Legacy Foundation Award
2:22.8	from the Organization of American Historians,
2:25.9	the 2011 Distinguished Book Award from the Society for Military History,
2:31.0	and designation as a 2011 choice outstanding academic title.
2:35.8	He is co-editor of Charleston syllabus, readings on race, racism, and racial violence,
2:41.3	University of Georgia Press, 2016, and major problems in African American history,
	...

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