On a forgotten front of World War II, an all-Black Army unit, the 823rd Engineer Aviation Battalion, along with 9,000 Black GIs, was tasked with a perilous project. Their mission: build an international highway to send supplies to support China’s war against Japanese invasion. Dubbed the “Ledo Road” by the high command and the “Road to Tokyo” by the men who built it, the road crossed the China-Burma-India Theater, one of the most rugged, unforgiving, and remote war zones. The highway snaked through deep valleys, virgin forests, and the southern slopes of the Himalayas—and its construction took a grim human toll.

The Road to Tokyo tells the remarkable story of how Black engineers and truck drivers, along with their white and Asian comrades, built this little-known route. Yinghong Cheng chronicles how these ordinary soldiers connected their hard work and sacrifice in an isolated corner of the world to their country’s eventual victory. Black GIs accomplished their mission while fighting Japanese harassment, a treacherous natural environment, and pervasive racism. For many, their experiences while building the highway became a form of political education, linking the war abroad to the fight for civil rights at home and the desegregation of the military. Highlighting the patriotism and internationalism of African American soldiers, The Road to Tokyo reconstructs a crucial episode in the Black and Asian experiences of World War II.

Yinghong Cheng is professor of history at Delaware State University. He is the author of Creating the “New Man”: From Enlightenment Ideals to Socialist Realities (2009) and Discourses of Race and Rising China (second edition, 2026).