Foxholes and Color Lines

A first-rate account of how, over a relatively brief period, America's military establishment transformed itself.

Wonderful... This book is invaluable as armed-forces history.

Well-written, thoughtful, and incisive... A fresh look at why the armed services took so long to implement a policy imposed upon them by their civilian leaders.

Mershon and Schlossman... provide the most penetrating and thorough account to date of the policies and tensions associated with this metamorphosis.

Foxholes and Color Lines poignantly challenges the theatre of operations within the American armed forces that led to President Truman's order to desegregate the military. This insightful account of the evolution of military policies and administration creates an important historical and political debate over the true objectives and implementation of racial integration in the military.