McGuire's study fills a major gap in social histories of the Second World War by placing Hastie's role in proper historical perspective. He demonstrates that, although he is largely ignored in the published literature, Hastie did more to effect changes in the placement, training, and promotion of black soldiers than any other single individual in the history of the American armed forces prior to World War II. Throughout, McGuire makes liberal use of primary source materials and comments from soldiers and other key figures to reinforce his argument.