6-Month Campaign
This book publicity case study outlines the work Coriolis Company performed for Professor Chad Williams’ book, The Wounded World: W. E. B. Du Bois and the First World War, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux on April 4, 2023. The Wounded World tells the dramatic story of W. E. B. Du Bois’s reckoning with the betrayal of Black soldiers during World War I―and a new understanding of one of the great twentieth-century writers
”As authors, we put so much time, energy and labor into writing our books that we often overlook the importance of promoting them and everything that this entails. From our first conversation, Nanda conveyed a genuine excitement about my book and its potential which was infectious. Along with developing a brilliant marketing campaign, she empowered me to be my biggest cheerleader. Nanda and everyone at Coriolis truly care about the authors they work with. They have an incredible team of dedicated experts who are fully invested in your success. I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to partner with them.
Chad L. WilliamsSamuel J. and Augusta Spector Professor of History and African and African American Studies at Brandeis University
Events
April 5, 2023, Author Event, in conversation with Brenna W. Greer, hosted by Wellesley Books, Wellesley, MA
April 19, 2023, Chad Williams presents The Wounded World: W. E. B. Du Bois and the First World War in conversation w/Minkah Makalani hosted by Red Emma’s, Baltimore, MD
April 20, 2023, Chad L. Williams — The Wounded World: W. E. B. Du Bois and the First World War – with Michael Kazin hosted by Politics and Prose, Washington, DC
May 2, 2023, Author Event: Chad L. Williams in conversation with Waldo Martin, hosted by Books Inc. Berkeley, CA
May 3, 2023, Author Event: Chad L. Williams in conversation with Sarah Ladipo Manyika, hosted by San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, CA
May 4, 2023, At Skylight: Chad L. Williams presents The Wounded World with Robin D.G. Kelley, hosted by Skylight Books, Los Angeles, CA
May 8, 2023, Author Talk with Chad L. Williams — The Wounded World, hosted by Boston Public Library, Boston, MA
August 19, 2023, African American History Panel, Mississippi Book Festival, Jackson, MS
August 28, 2023, Author Event, Chad L. Williams in conversation with Osarueme Osazee, hosted by Osas Virtual Book Club
Interviews
Estimated total reach: 232,732,125
February 20, 2023, “Dr. Chad Williams on Tavis Smiley,” KBLA 1580 Talk Radio
February 22, 2023, “The Wounded World. In conversation with author Professor Chad L. Williams” with Jim Herlihy, The San Francisco Experience
March 30, 2023, “The Wounded World: W.E.B. Du Bois” with Keith Haney, Becoming Bridge Builders
April 13, 2023, “War, White Supremacy And The Failure Of Democracy” by Marybeth Gasman, Forbes
April 23, 2023, “W.E.B. Dubois and The Wounded World with Chad Williams,” Reflecting History podcast
May 5, 2023, “The Pacifist and the Battlefield” with Stephanie Bastek, The Smarty Pants Podcast
May 7, 2023, “‘I wish he had finished his book’: Chad L Williams on WEB Du Bois” by Charles Kaiser, The Guardian
May 22, 2023, “Interview on WURD Radio’s The Source with Andrea Sanders
May 26, 2023, “Podcast #135 – Chad Williams” with Sonja Williams, Biographers International Organization
June 1, 2023, “Ep 55 – Chad Williams – WEB DuBois and Black America in The First World War,” The Parley in All Blue with Mark Dawson
June 4, 2023, “The Wounded World: W.E.B. Du Bois and the First World War, a Discussion with Dr. Chad Williams” with Mike Cunha, Battles of the First World War Podcast
June 4, 2023, “W.E.B. DuBois and The Wounded World w/ Chad L. Williams” with Bruce Carlson, My History Can Beat Up Your Politics Podcast
June 6, 2023, Interview on KFAI’s The Conversation with Al McFarlane
June 19, 2023, “W. E. B. Du Bois & African American Contributions to World War I” with Kelly Therese Pollock, Unsung History Podcast
June 22, 2023, “Why Did WW2 Advance Civil Rights When WW1 Reversed Them? Here’s What WEB DuBois Said” with Scott Rank, History Unplugged Podcast
July 25, 2023, Interview on KFAI’s Write On! Radio
August 26, 2023, “The Wounded World with Dr. Chad Williams” with Alycia, Civics and Coffee
September 14, 2023, “War Booster, Peace Activist The Complicated Legacy of WEB DuBois w/ Dr.Chad Williams,” with Dominique DiPrima, First Things First
September 27, 2023, “Discussing W.E.B. Du Bois with Chad Williams” with Nick Shepley, Explaining History
September 29, 2023, “The Betrayal of Black Soldiers in WWI with Dr. Chad Williams” and Dr. Karen Bryson, The Curious Professor
October 12, 2023, “The untold story of W.E.B. Du Bois” with Alexandra Churchill, History Hack
November 1, 2023, “W.E.B. Du Bois and World War I” with Amanda Williams, World War I Podcast
April 1, 2024, “African American Contributions in World War I and W.E.B. Du Bois’s Legacy with Dr. Chad Williams,” with Paul Bavill, History Rage
Reviews
Estimated total reach: 166,311,174
“Stirring intellectual history . . . Williams convincingly renders Du Bois as a tragic figure whose optimism was dashed by the intransigence of racism, adding poignancy to a story about the limits and fragility of American democracy. At once a moving character study and a deeply researched look at a dispiriting era from the country’s past, this is history at its most vivid.” ― Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A compelling account . . . Williams, like Du Bois before him, has done the important work of making sure that history is recorded and remembered . . . A solid bulwark against efforts to simplify and sanitize history.” ― Kirkus Reviews
“Illuminating . . . deeply researched, [and] crisply written . . . By rendering this story in such rich archival detail, Williams’s book is a fitting coda to Du Bois’s unfinished history.” — Matthew Delmont, The New York Times
“Prodigiously researched and compulsively readable . . . Williams wisely . . . [allows] Du Bois’s biography to unfold in all its messy, captivating, inspiring complexity. Specialists and general readers alike will profit from Williams’s sensitive reconstruction of the most challenging period, ethically and politically, of Du Bois’s long life.” — Vaughn Rasberry, The Washington Post
“Professor Chad Williams’s story of this never-to-be completed book is a sweeping and overarching study which includes black-and-white photos, full notes, and an index. It is one of the best biographies I have ever read.” — David F. Beer, Roads to the Great War
“My favorite kind of history makes you feel you are living inside every moment the author creates. This can only happen when the fruits of rigorous research are assembled with the flair of a novelist. Chad L Williams, a Brandeis professor, does all that and more in his riveting new biography of William Edward Burghardt Du Bois.” — Charles Kaiser, The Guardian
“In ‘The Wounded World’, Chad Williams provides an informative account of the second half of DuBois’ life. Williams’ primary focus is DuBois’ decades long, and never completed history of the experiences of Black soldiers during World War I.” — Dr. Glenn Altschuler, Florida Courier
“Through dogged research, Williams has illuminated the mystery of the book that could not be written and that haunted its author to the end.”—Barbara Spindel, The Christian Science Monitor
“Professor Chad Williams’s story of this never-to-be completed book is a sweeping and overarching study which includes black-and-white photos, full notes, and an index. It is one of the best biographies I have ever read.” — David F. Beer, Roads to the Great War
“An outstanding account of the eminent intellectual’s literary Waterloo.” — Eugene L. Meyer, Washington Independent Review of Books
“Williams’ study is a comprehensive and historically illuminating account and tribute to Du Bois’ massive, unpublished work–his life’s work.” — Nichole Louise
Williams tells the story of Du Bois’s failed effort to write a “definitive” history of Black soldiers during World War I with compassion, insight, and amazing research. —Randal Maurice Jelks, Los Angeles Review of Books
Op-Eds and Features
Estimated total reach: 12,680,100
January 3, 2023, “2023 Preview: Most Anticipated Nonfiction,” BookPage
February 7, 2023, “W.E.B. Du Bois, Black History Month and the importance of African American studies,” The Conversation
March 30, 2023, “The Annotated Nightstand: What Clint Smith is Reading Now and Next,” Literary Hub
April 20, 2023, “10 best books of April: The courage to look under the surface,” The Christian Science Monitor
Book Publicity Assets
Coriolis also provided 484 visual book marketing assets to be used in marketing the book, on Chad Williams’ website and on his social media. These consisted of 408 graphics and 76 video assets.
*This post was last updated on September 4, 2025.
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