Braided in Fire

Reviews & Related Coverage

Black Is America | Lt. John Fox: An All-American Hero. February 1, 2022.

Dominic Lawson interviews author Solace Wales for the inaugural episode of the Black Is America podcast featuring little-known African American heroes.

Lawson, a podcaster from Memphis, found out about Lt. John Fox’s heroic action from an article on a friend’s Facebook page. He was instantly intrigued and thought how come I never heard of him? He then discovered Braided in Fire and learned more about Fox. He said, “As an African American I was always looking for heroes to read about. MLK and Fredrick Douglass are great but I heard those stories over and over again. Also, many times when we see black history content it’s mostly about us being enslaved or overcoming during the civil rights movement (which is important), but it’s also important for me and my community to see and hear more stories of us in a different light. You know, as heroes and victors and things outside the usual trope. I want this show to give little kids who look like me more heroes that look like us. So Lt. John Fox is not only an inspiration for an entire episode, he is in large part the inspiration for the entire show even existing.”

KWMR | Christine Desser interviews Solace Wales about her book Braided in Fire on KWMR radio, a lively West Marin local station affiliated with NPR. May 20, 2021.

The National Medal of Honor Museum | Author Interview featuring Solace Wales. April 22, 2021.

Enjoy a great discussion with author Solace Wales and the National Medal of Honor Museum’s Director of Research, Cory Ackerman, as they discuss Wales’ latest book Braided in Fire and the life of Medal of Honor recipient, Lt. John Fox.

Watch the interview below or on the museum’s video channel. (1:03:01 hours)

ESCOM Journal | “Otis Zachary” by Solace Wales published in ESCOM (Emeritus Students College of Marin) Journal, March/April 2021 edition. Charismatic Zachary, a black GI involved in Sommocolonia, is one of the main characters in Braided in Fire. The article is found on page 8 of the issue. Download the PDF (1.38 MB).

Global Atlanta | “Books 2020: Examining Black American Soldiers’ Contributions to Italian Liberation” by John Mulholland. December 31, 2020.

“This book is a can’t-put-it-downer from the first page. . . . A gifted writer, her narrative style makes the reader feel physically present during the events described. Ms. Wales could never have imagined that her book was to be published just as the Black Lives Matter movement took off across the States and around the world.

“Sadly, if anyone had any doubts about the disgraceful racial treatment of Black men and women in our Armed Forces during World War II, this book will erase them.”

Beach Metro News | “Wine View: Year about to end was one in which to connect locally in numerous ways” by Jacqueline Corrigan. December 30, 2020.

“I have also done a lot of reading. I revisited some books, . . . I also read new ones such as Braided in Fire which was particularly poignant as we learned about Black business owners in the Beach and their lived experiences in the Black Lives Here column in Beach Metro News.”

Dream of Italy TV & Travel Magazine | Kathy McCabe and author Solace Wales discussed Wales’ Braided in Fire on Facebook Live for Dream of Italy Book Club. Braided in Fire was also featured in the Dream of Italy blog in prelude to the book club interview. October 28, 2020.

Tuscany’s Grapevine Magazine | “Altri Tempi … Anni Fa” by Judith Edwards. October 2020 issue.

“Braided in Fire is a book to read and re-read, packed full of the kind of details which could easily have been ignored in a top-down history. . . . The book’s publication at this time is so apt. As the writer Ali Smith has said, Time, art, thought, history, language, who gets to speak and who doesn't; people real and fictional and how their stories are and aren’t told. These real stories of real people are spellbinding, moving.

“History is all around us, catch it if you can, as Solace so memorably has, retelling these stories with drama and passion. Here’s a new page to add to our understanding of World War Two, and a page that could so easily have dropped out of recorded history. We owe the author our thanks for her account, which so movingly records the human toll of war. During our struggle with the Covid 19 pandemic, we are thinking of how to relate better in the future. A model is provided in Braided in Fire. Read it, digest it, and ponder its message.”

Download and read a PDF of the article (949 KB) courtesy of Grapevine Editions. Print and digital subscriptions are available at luccagrapevine.com.

“An Unknown Chapter in Italian and American History.” Dianne Hales, author of the New York Times bestseller La Bella Linga, featured Solace Wales and Braided in Fire in Hales’ Fall 2020 newsletter. Hales’ interview of Wales resulted in a guest blog article. August 25, 2020.

Book Q&As with Debora Kalb: Q&A with Solace Wales. August 24, 2020.

Lily Mackenzie | “Meet Solace Wales, the author of an amazing story of black soldiers under fire in 1944 Tuscany, Italy.” July 20, 2020.

Rose City Reader | Braided in Fire is highlighted in the Rose City Reader’s Book Beginnings. July 2, 2020.

la Reppublica | “Prima gli italiani I soldati neri morti per noi” | “The Black American Soldiers who died for us Italians” by Enrico Deaglio. January 2, 2020. (Il articolo di Enrico Deaglio nella Repubblica il 2 gennaio, 2020.) Author Solace Wales is profiled in Deaglio’s article reporting on the 75th anniversary commemoration of the WWII battle in Sommocolonia. Read the article in Italian or download a PDF (2.73 MB). English translations of selected passages from the article are available for reading on this website.

“[There were 75 African American soldiers of the 366th Infantry Regiment in Sommocolonia at the time of the attack at dawn the morning after Christmas, 1944.] 

During the four hours of battle, 45 of them died—anything but cowards. But the American military never said a word about them. So it fell to this mild American woman, who lived for decades in the middle of this authentic village, used to the rugged moral rectitude of its inhabitants, to go and track down what happened to those who died and those who survived. She found them, she gave them a name and a story with details. Read more ⟶

il Giornale di Barga | “‘Braided in fire’ il libro di Solace Wales sulla guerra a Sommocolonia” di Redazione | “‘Braided in fire’ Solace Wales’ book on the war in Sommocolonia” by the Editor. June 30, 2020. Il Giornale announced the publication of Wales’ book which chronicles the WWII battle in Sommocolonia. Read the original article in Italian. | Leggi l’articolo in italiano. Excerpts from the English translation of the newspaper’s announcement follow. Read the complete English translation here.

“. . . This book has been in the making for many years. The author, Solace Wales, (known by many in the Barga Area by her nickname and her married name ‘Sally Sheets’) is a frequent resident of the hilltop village of Sommocolonia. She began quietly interviewing her neighbors about their war experiences way back in 1987. After conducting 21 interviews with Sommocolonians over several summers, Solace saw that the story was even more extraordinary than she initially suspected. She realized that she must locate and interview African American veterans who had a connection to the horrific Sommocolonia battle of December 26, 1944. At the time of the German attack that morning after Christmas, the village was occupied by segregated American troops—they were outnumbered by three times as many Axis attackers.



During the 1990s, Solace succeeded in doing the American investigation, ending up with 21 in-depth interviews with Black vets, by coincidence the same number as she had conducted with villagers. In July 2000 she persuaded some of her American interviewees to come to Sommocolonia for an honoring of the black soldiers’ service in the Serchio Valley—including that of posthumous recipient of the Medal of Honor, Lt. John Fox, who is one of the main protagonists in Braided in Fire. This event, described in the book, brought many to tears. It coincided appropriately with the initiation of Sommocolonia’s monument and park dedicated to peace, La Rocca alla Pace. 



Since then Solace has worked on crafting a book worthy of its subject matter. Read more ⟶

The New York Times | “Italy Journal; On a ’44 Battlefield, a Salute for a Black Hero” by Alessandra Stanley. July 16, 2000.

“Ms. Wales. . . is a little like Frances Mayes, author of ‘Under the Tuscan Sun,’ only in addition to fixing up her 16th-century villa and garden Ms. Wales wanted to restore Sommocolonia’s place in history. ‘Somebody had to tell the story,’ she said. ‘It had been in the shadows too long.’”

San Francisco Chronicle | “Almost-Forgotten Heroes / Italian town honors black GIs who were shunned by their own country” by Frank Viviano. July 13, 2000.

This article for the Chronicle was the first account of the battle’s African-American survivors’ experiences to appear in the U.S. press. In it, Frank Viviano interviews several veterans, as well as profiling author Solace Wales’ extensive work in researching these forgotten heroes and their accomplishments.

 “Braided in Fire vividly recounts the intertwined histories of the small Italian town of Sommocolonia and the black 366th Infantry Regiment, which intersected during the German Winter Storm Offensive in December 1944. At the center of Solace Wales’ story are the brave Biondi family and forward artillery observer Lieutenant John Fox, who won the Medal of Honor for his heroism in Sommocolonia. Thoroughly researched and dramatically retold, Braided in Fire adds a valuable new page to our understanding of the Second World War.”
—Ian Ona Johnson, P.J. Moran Assistant Professor of Military History, the University of Notre Dame

“Braided in Fire tells the story of Lieutenant John Fox, a forward artillery observer and posthumous Medal of Honor recipient, who directed friendly artillery fire on his own position as German troops overran Sommocolonia, Italy, on December 26, 1944. Fox’s selfless sacrifice went unrecognized by the U.S. government for half a century simply because he was black. Solace Wales has invested decades in researching this instance of forgotten valor, producing a rich tapestry that interweaves the experiences of the black GIs and Italian villagers caught in the hellish maelstrom that engulfed Sommocolonia the day John Fox died. The result is a moving meditation on the cost of war and a tribute to the African Americans who fought for a country that treated them like second-class citizens.”
—Gregory J.W. Urwin, Professor of History, Temple University, author of Facing Fearful Odds: The Siege of Wake Island

“Solace Wales contributes a remarkable, unique account which is not available anywhere else . . . Because of her gracious literary style, she vividly captures the ways in which the African American soldiers and the Italians of Sommocolonia’s lives became intertwined. The book breaks new ground.”
—Carolyn Ross Johnston, author of My Father’s War: Fighting with the Buffalo Soldiers in World War II

“Solace Wales’ carefully researched, gripping narrative of the overlooked heroism of the black 366th Infantry Regiment, so sorely mistreated, is a must read for understanding race in America today.
—China Galland, author of Love Cemetery, Unburying the Secret History of Slaves

“The contribution of African-American infantrymen in WWII has been relegated to footnotes in history and Solace Wales has weaved her extensive interviews with these forgotten soldiers together with her inside knowledge of the Italian families whose lives were forcibly intertwined with them.  The result is a uniquely captivating account of braided lives and cultures.”
—James Pratt, whose father was a captain in the 366th Infantry Regiment, is a leading expert on the unit.

“Solace Wales’ painstaking research, and the myriad ways she brings so many characters alive, makes this a magnum opus, a masterpiece in story telling that is incredibly authentic.”
—Daniel Gibran, author of The 92nd Infantry Division and the Italian Campaign in World War II

“Braided in Fire vividly describes the encounters between African-American soldiers and Italian villagers and partisans involved in the Battle of Sommocolonia. The families of the soldiers and the villagers become a part of this wonderful but tragic story which changed their lives forever.”
—Ivan J. Houston, Buffalo Soldier and author of
 Black Warriors: The Buffalo Soldiers of World War II

“This book, full of attentive detail, flows along for the reader with great ease and freshness: it has a sober, essential, almost chronicle style that does not indulge in tears. It is exciting, especially for those who have a connection to these events, to recognize and meet people and facts that otherwise would have been lost forever.”
—Sara Moscardini, Director for Barga, Lucca Historical Institute