Presents the life of the African-American pilot who flew missions for France during World War I, experienced racial discrimination in the United States, was beaten in the Peekskill Riots of 1949 and became a member of the French Legion of Honor.

Although he was the first African American fighter pilot, Eugene J. Bullard is still a relative stranger in his homeland. An accomplished professional boxer, musician, club manager, and impresario of Parisian nightlife between the world wars, Bullard found in Europe a degree of respect and freedom unknown to blacks in America. There, for twenty-five years, he helped define the expatriate experience for countless other African American artists, writers, performers, and athletes. This is the first biography of Bullard in thirty years and the most complete ever. It follows Bullard's lifelong search for respect from his poor boyhood in Jim-Crow Georgia to his attainment of notoriety in Jazz-Age Paris and his exploits fighting for his adopted country, for which he was awarded the Croix de Guerre. Drawing on a vast amount of archival material in the United States, Great Britain, and France, Craig Lloyd unfolds the vibrant story of an African American who sought freedom overseas. Lloyd provides a new look at the black expatriate community in Paris, taking readers into the cabarets where Bullard rubbed elbows with Josephine Baker, Louis Armstrong, and even the Prince of Wales. Lloyd also uses Bullard's life as a lens through which to view the racism that continued to dog him even in Europe in his encounters with traveling Americans. When Hitler conquered France, Bullard was wounded in action and then escaped to America. There, his European successes counted for little: he spent his last years in obscurity and hardship but continued to work for racial justice. Eugene Bullard, Black Expatriate in Jazz-Age Paris offers a fascinating look at an extraordinary man who lived on his own terms and adds a new facet to our understanding of the black diaspora.

The incredible story of the first African American military pilot, who became a spy in the French Resistance and an American civil rights pioneer. Winner of the Gold Medal for Memoir/Biography from the Military Writers Society of America A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice Eugene Bullard lived one of the most fascinating lives of the twentieth century. The son of a former slave and an indigenous Creek woman, Bullard fled home at the age of eleven to escape the racial hostility of his Georgia community. When his journey led him to Europe, he garnered worldwide fame as a boxer, and later as the first African American fighter pilot in history. After the war, Bullard returned to Paris a celebrated hero. But little did he know that the dramatic, globe-spanning arc of his life had just begun. All Blood Runs Red is the inspiring untold story of an American hero, a thought-provoking chronicle of the twentieth century and a portrait of a man who came from nothing and by his own courage, determination, gumption, intelligence and luck forged a legendary life. “A whale of a tale, told clearly and quickly. I read the entire book in almost one sitting.” —Thomas E. Ricks, The New York Times Book Review “All Blood Runs Red should be required reading for anyone who has ever dreamed big. A truly inspiring and uplifting story of courage and triumph, and an opus for an unsung hero.” —Nelson DeMille “Dazzling . . . This may be a biography, but it reads like a novel.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Life and legends of Eugene Jacques Bullard, the first black American military aviator... from his childhood to WWI hero, 47 chapters of his life from the time he ran away from home, alone at the age of eight to find freedom and equality in France. This is based on a true life. It is a series of fictional interviews with a man whom I never met.

Surveys the history of black aviators, from the early black aviation community in Chicago in the 1920s through World War II to modern times.

Fascinating story of Eugene Bullard - world's first black combat aviator.

Eugene Burton Ely was buried the day after his 25th birthday, less than a half-mile from where he was born. No sooner had he captured the world's eye and gained the fame he sought, than he crashed into the earth. Until 1911, the last year of his life, hardly anyone knew his name. More than a century later, nothing has changed. An Iowa farm boy afraid of heights, Ely was the first to land an airplane on the deck of a ship. To some, he is the father of naval aviation, the inspiration behind today's nuclear aircraft carriers--but many details of his life have been lost until now. This book seeks to fill this void.