Title: Soldiers of uncommon valor
Description: Soldiers of Uncommon Valor: the History of Salvationists of African Descent in the United States is a narrative that speaks to such contemporary issues as releasing the potential of immigrants, organizing and sustaining communities in the midst of political controversy and armed conflict, unifying the Black diaspora, challenging racism through genuine reconciliation, using African American and European music to bridge the gap between races, and staying on message in the face of popular but secular trends.

The stories of these Salvationists are framed in the context of every social and political era in U.S. since 1872 and take the reader on a journey through history that has never before been documented in such vivid detail.

Featured are the stories of men and women who were, what author Malcolm Gladwell might call, "outliers" --those who stood out from the crowd and persevered through great challenges and trials: Thomas Ferguson, a prolific music composer and poet who lived in Boston, Massachusetts, during the ragtime era of the 1900s; Adrian and Eualee DaCosta, missionaries who started the Army's work in Nigeria in 1920; Dorothy Purser, a pharmacist and nurse who successfully fought to open doors for black women in hospital administration in the 1950s in Cincinnati, Ohio; Abraham and Louise Johnson, who pioneered the Army's work in urban communities during the civil rights movement in the 1960s; and Israel L. Gaither, who challenged barriers to interracial marriage and in 2006 became the first African American to be nominated for the position of General and the first person of color to lead The Salvation Army in Southern Africa. Today, he is the first African Americannational commander of The Salvation Army in the U.S.

Evangelists Billy Graham called The Salvation Army "The best kept secret in the U.S." Management guru Peter Drucker called it, "The most effective organization in the United States." And the prestigious Booz Allen Hamilton global consulting firm cited The Salvation Army among "The World's Ten Most Enduring Institutions" alongside Oxford University and the Olympic Games.

Soldiers of Uncommon Valor will show why the Army has received such accolades and more.
Subjects: African Americans, History, Salvation Army
Places: United States