At Night All Blood Is Black

So incantatory and visceral I don’t think I’ll ever forget it — Ali Smith ? Guardian

An extraordinary novel, full of sadness, rage and beauty — Sarah Waters

More than a century after World War I, a great new African writer [has written] a spare yet extraordinary novel about this bloody stain on human history — Chigozie Obioma ? New York Times Book Review

A stunning book for our times: poetically gripping, it has lodged itself deeply into my consciousness — Philippe Sands, author of East West Street and The Ratline

We agreed that its incantatory prose and dark brilliant vision had jangled our emotions and blown our minds, that it cast a spell on us ? Lucy Hughes-Hallett, International Booker Prize jury

An intense exploration of the dehumanising effect of war and colonialism. This slight book explodes with extraordinary force – readers will not forget it in a hurry ? The Times, Historical Fiction Book of the Month

An unrelenting take on war, race, masculinity, and colonialism… Diop’s short, sharp, and serrated novel is a visceral dramatization of how our humanity and inhumanity are forever intertwined ? Viet Thanh Nguyen, author of The Sympathizer

A vital decolonisation of the narrative tyranny of the Great War — Ben Okri

A brilliant shifting tale… deserves the bouquets and trumpets ? Observer

A gripping, twisty account of industrial warfare, colonialism, violence, youth and friendship ? Guardian

This heartbreaking and poetic novel addresses a story woefully absent from French history books ? Guardian

Part folklore, part existential howl, and part prose poem, it is a heartbreaking account of pointless suffering… A searing, eye-opening tale of innocence destroyed ? Kirkus (starred review)

Diop pitches us – head-first and mid-thought – into Alfa’s whorling stream of consciousness. I’m not sure I breathed again for the next two hours ? European Literature Network

Powerfully original and gripping ? The Times, Best Paperbacks of 2021

A novel of lacerating power ? Lib?ration

Dark, powerful and hypnotic… Breathtaking! ? Livres Hebdo

With its oral styles, its mantra-like repetitions, At Night All Blood is Black captivates more surely than a classic war novel [and] gives a voice to those we have seldom heard speak before ? Le Figaro

This novel is a wonder. Written in a simple, almost naive, yet astonishing style, it speaks of the tragedy of the trenches with a moving delicacy ? Tahar Ben Jelloun, Le Point

A powerful, truthful look at the meaningless horror of war from the perspective of those whose experience as soldiers from colonial countries has been so undervalued and unexplored ? Culturefly

A short, powerful novel… Diop presents a world with no firm dividing line between courage and madness, murder and warfare; the most dedicated killers are awarded the Croix de Guerre. Alfa’s final transformation, as he attempts to atone for his guilt over the death of his friend, is unexpected, poetic – and chilling ? Spectator

The ending leaves me open mouthed ? Ian McMillan, BBC Radio 3’s The Verb

Visceral, harrowing, yet absolutely riveting ? Refinery 29

Scalding, mesmerizing, and troubling in the best way ? Library Journal

This haunting tale of a Senegalese man’s experience in WWI is a poetic look at the horrors of war and its effect on mental health ? Buzzfeed

Has an incomparable literary force ? Libraire

A powerfully rhythmic style, at once classic and contemporary, strewn with strong, evocative imagery ? L’Humanit?

A plunge into the horrors of war. A philosophical inquiry into betrayal and loyalty. But also a book emigration, a voyage into the sorrow-crushed soul of the one who chooses to leave, and a magnificent parable on the impossibility of return ? Les Inrockuptibles

Interweaves the inexpressible cruelty of the battlefield with a beautiful ode to universal friendship ? Le Journal du dimanche

A particularly pertinent reflection on the evils of war, as well as a profound exploration of the human soul — J.M. Le Cl?zio, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature

David Diop here erects a beautiful monument to the Senegalese riflemen, and seeks to restore their African dimension; to listen to them, to understand them ? Mathias ?nard, Le Monde

A dark story told in lyrical prose… Rhythmic, enchanting fiction ? The AV Club