Last of the Conquerors

Last of the Conquerors

Last of the Conquerors is a 1948 novel by African-American novelist William Gardner Smith. It concerns African-American GI's serving in US occupied Germany after World War II. The protagonist, Hayes Dawkins, has an affair with Ilse, a white German woman. Together, he and Ilse struggle against racist Army officers and policies to sustain a relationship that some white soldiers condemn (although there are also many friendly whites who help them).

Last of the Conquerors depicts post-Nazi Germany as more racially tolerant than America. While this depiction may or may not be accurate, Smith's novel is offering a critique of Marshall Plan rhetoric claiming that American society should be a model for the world, while African-Americans continued to suffer under the Jim Crow system at home and in the military (an inconsistency noticed noticed by many other writers, American and German, at the time).


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • The Irish (in Countries Other Than Ireland) —     The Irish (in countries other than Ireland)     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► The Irish (in countries other than Ireland)     I. IN THE UNITED STATES     Who were the first Irish to land on the American continent and the time of their arrival are …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • The Franks —     The Franks     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► The Franks     The Franks were a confederation formed in Western Germany of a certain number of ancient barbarian tribes who occupied the right shore of the Rhine from Mainz to the sea. Their name is… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • The Slavs —     The Slavs     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► The Slavs     I. NAME     A. Slavs     At present the customary name for all the Slavonic races is Slav. This name did not appear in history until a late period, but it has superseded all others. The… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • The Ark (fortress) — The Ark is a massive fortress located in the city of Bukhara, Uzbekistan that was initially built and occupied around the 5th century AD. In addition to being a military structure, the Ark encompassed what was essentially a town that, during much …   Wikipedia

  • The Ultimate Solution — is an 1973 alternate history by Eric Norden, describing a world resulting from a total Nazi and Imperial Japanese victory in World War II and partition of the world between them, and is noted for its particularly grim tone. Plot summaryIt is… …   Wikipedia

  • The Five Dravidians — Country Sri Lanka Titles King of Anuradhapura Founder Pulahatta Current head none The Five Dravidian were five Tamil Chiefs apparently from the Pandyan Dynasty who ruled the Anuradhapura Kingdom for 14 years from 103 BC to 88 BC.[ …   Wikipedia

  • The State (book) — NOTOC Infobox Book name = The State title orig = Der Staat translator = image caption = author = Franz Oppenheimer illustrator = cover artist = country = German Empire language = series = subject = The state genre = Political sociology publisher …   Wikipedia

  • THE MIDDLE AGES — …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • The rise of Jat power — ’ (king) was conferred upon him in 1724. [Dr P.L. Vishwakarma, The Jats, I, Ed Dr Vir Singh, (Delhi:2004), 116] In past Jats always rose against tyranny, injustice, economic and social exploitations and were never overawed by claims of racial or… …   Wikipedia

  • The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — This article is about the book. For the historical event, see Decline of the Roman Empire. For publication details and chapter listings, see Outline of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. The History of the Decline and Fall… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”