Overview
Candor, North Carolina. The town barber brandishes a copy of the May 1927 Charlotte Observer-on the front page, Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis on its cross-country flight. At the outskirts of town, best friends Lake, Roger, and Jim take turns hurling their wingless crate down a hill. Eyes closed, they imagine their future alongside Lindy. Pearl Harbor and America's entry into what would be World War II changes everything. The boys will have their chance to fly--but not over North Carolina farm fields. They will fly America's legendary B-17 Flying Fortress for the Mighty Eighth Air Force. And they will fly across Europe on bombing runs, facing a determined German Luftwaffe. The odds of completing their tours of duty are slim. A Gathering of Men is the account of the boys who board their aircraft for the first time and the men they become in the blink of an eye. The terrors they witness and the pressure to go up again and again and again bring them to the breaking point. It is a moving tale, based on a true story, about shattered dreams and enduring friendship, duty, and honor.
Full Product Details
Author: Rona D Simmons
Publisher: Cyrilla Publishing
Imprint: Cyrilla Publishing
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 1.90cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.508kg
ISBN: 9798234052636
Pages: 262
Publication Date: 30 May 2026
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Not yet available
This item is yet to be released. You can pre-order this item and we will dispatch it to you upon its release.
Reviews
A vehicle of time travel, taking us back to the senses and places of 1940s North Carolina and the battles of WWII. Vivid, beautiful and heartbreaking."" -Patti Callahan Henry, author of Surviving Savannah, co-creator of Friends & Fiction ""A powerhouse of a novel, combining the hearts and bonds of men at war with exquisite technical accuracy that reads like lightning from a rifle barrel. A Gathering of Men is a sweeping epic that will keep you breathless while leaving no heartstring un-pulled."" -Brian Panowich, bestselling author of Bull Mountain and Hard Cash Valley ""This compelling story by Rona Simmons is a glorious tribute to the men of the 100th Bomb Group, whose sacrifice and heroism at great personal cost resonates vividly across the decades."" -Robert J. Mrazek, award-winning author of The Indomitable Florence Finch: The Untold Story of a War Widow Turned Resistance Fighter and Savior of American POWs
Author Information
Rona Simmons is an award-winning author of historical fiction and nonfiction, focusing on the period from World War I to the Great Depression, to World War II. Her books include No Average Day: The 24 Hours of October 24, 1944 as well as The Other Veterans of World War II: Stories from Behind the Front Lines, and A Gathering of Men. Simmons is a volunteer with Stories Behind the Stars, a group dedicated to telling the stories of all 421,000 fallen American soldiers of World War II. She is a frequent speaker to service groups, military organizations, veterans' communities, and history enthusiasts across the country.
