THE SENEGALESE TIRAILLEURS - From colonial subject to soldier - From 1857 to the present day

The first comprehensive history of a legendary army corps. Created by imperial decree in July 1857, the first battalion of Tirailleurs is Senegalese in name only: this military corps formed within the French colonial empire in fact brought together the entire "force noire" — that is, the African soldiers of colour who fought for France.

While studies on the role of the Senegalese Tirailleurs in the two World Wars are legion, works retracing their full history — from the creation of this corps in the 19th century to its dissolution in 1960 — are rare. Focusing on collective trajectories as well as individual destinies (the activist Lamine Senghor, the resistance fighter Addi Bâ, and the Free French fighter Georges Koudoukou), Anthony Guyon offers the first comprehensive synthesis on the subject.

It revisits the moments of glory of this army — such as the defence of Reims in 1918, the Battle of Bir Hakeim in 1942, and Operation Anvil in 1944 — as well as the tragedies that also punctuate its history (most notably the terrible massacres committed by the Wehrmacht against them during the Campagne de France).

Far from the usual clichés — whereby, even today, the degrading iconography embodied by "Y'a bon Banania" remains one of the first elements associated with the identity of the Senegalese Tirailleurs — this work, at once comprehensive and accessible, illustrates the full complexity of their position halfway between colonial societies and metropolitan authority. A must-read for everyone.