All Blood Runs Red: The Legendary Life of Eugene Bullard—Boxer, Pilot, Soldier, Spy

wildly improbable life story of Eugene Bullard (1895–1961) almost defies belief. Born in Georgia, the son of a formerly enslaved man, Bullard left home at the age of 11 in search of France, drawn to the country as a place where he heard African Americans could escape the racism and violence of home. Keith (Stay the Rising Sun) and Clavin (Dodge City) tell how Bullard made it to Paris, where he initially gained renown as a boxer, then later as a fighter pilot for France during World War I, well before any African Americans were flying for the U.S. military. After the war, he was a jazz drummer and eventually a nightclub owner. His acquaintances in Paris during the 1920s and 1930s included F. Scott Fitzgerald, Pablo Picasso, Langston Hughes (whom Bullard hired to work in his club), and Josephine Baker. In the late 1930s, Bullard used his club to help spy on visiting German soldiers. When Paris fell to the Germans, Bullard finally returned to the United States.