A powerful chronicle of moral courage, human resilience, and the haunting choices made during history's darkest days. As World War II reaches its final, desperate throes, Captain Edward Hume and his battle-hardened squad of bomb disposal experts--The Kaboom Boys--move methodically through the shattered remnants of Europe. While working to maintain steady hands and unwavering focus, they neutralize the silent killers left in war's wake, each defused bomb a small victory against chaos.
As the Allies liberate France, Hume finds an unexpected connection in a field hospital--a sharp-witted, dedicated Army nurse named Virginia who sees the man beneath the uniform. Their paths cross again in newly freed Paris, where war momentarily fades into something resembling a future.
But war does not wait for love.
Duty calls The Kaboom Boys back to the front, and deeper into Nazi Germany, where the devastation left in the war's wake is impossible to ignore. Their journey brings them to Dachau as they are tasked with aiding in the camp's liberation. The team quickly realizes that the terror and reality of the place are beyond anything they have seen or known before. And there, among the survivors and remnants of suffering, The Kaboom Boys meet a man whose inner strength defies the very war meant to break him: The Blacksmith of Dachau.
From Elaine Hume Peake and Don Keith comes a powerful and deeply human story of courage, survival, and the choices that define us. The Blacksmith of Dachau is a testament to the power of the human spirit--even in history's most tragic setting.
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Praise for A Call to War Series:
"Highly recommended." --Library Journal, Starred Review
"Beautifully conceived and thoughtfully executed..." --Charles Gomez, author of Eye of the Storm and Cuban Son Rising
"...a trip back in time to World War II told through the eyes of one: a brave, decent, and determined soldier..." --Sandy Kenyon, award-winning entertainment correspondent
"These unforgettable men of The Greatest Generation are portrayed with remarkable depth and humanity..." --Mitchell Kaplan, owner of Books & Books, cofounder of the Miami Book Fair and The Mazur Kaplan Production Company
"One of the most fascinating accounts of bravery in World War II." --Tim Gray, The World War II Foundation
"Chock full of real life events, the book will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout..." --Catherine K. Hurd, multi-award winning writer and playwright
"...should be on your reading list today." --Darcy Bonfils, multi-award winning television news executive producer
About the Author :
Elaine Hume Peake was born on Aberdeen Proving Ground in Aberdeen, Maryland, the site of the first United States Army Bomb Disposal testing and training base. Here her father, Captain Edward Hume learned the fundamentals of BD and became part of the first American army ordnance squads of World War II, setting the stage for the origins of the historical drama series, "The Kaboom Boys". Elaine studied journalism/mass communications at Towson State University leading her to a multi-year career in television news. She received multiple journalism awards including Emmys and the George Foster Peabody Award for her 9/11 coverage.
Elaine lives in Leiper's Fork, Tennessee with her husband Christopher where she writes and has been enjoying life with their precious golden retriever Lucia.
Don Keith is a native Alabamian and attended the University of Alabama where he received his degree in broadcast and film. He has received awards from the Associated Press and United Press International for newswriting and reporting. He is also the only person to be named Billboard Magazine "Radio Personality of the Year" in two formats, country and contemporary. Keith was a broadcast personality for over twenty years, owned his own consultancy, co-owned a Mobile, Alabama, radio station, and hosted and produced several nationally syndicated radio shows.
His first novel, "The Forever Season." received the Alabama Library Association's "Fiction of the Year" award. Keith has written extensively on historical subjects including World War II, submarine warfare, and fiction, biographies, and non-fiction works on a variety of subjects. He has published more than forty books, two of which--HUNTER KILLER and COLORS OF CHARACTER--have been adapted for the screen.
Mr. Keith lives with his wife, Charlene, in Indian Springs Village, Alabama.
Don Keith is a native Alabamian and attended the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa where he received his degree in broadcast and film with a double major in literature. He has won numerous awards from the Associated Press and United Press International for news writing and reporting. He is also the only person to be named Billboard Magazine "Radio Personality of the Year" in two formats, country and contemporary. Keith was a broadcast personality for over twenty years and also owned his own consultancy, co-owned a Mobile, Alabama, radio station, and hosted and produced several nationally syndicated radio shows. His first novel, "The Forever Season." was published in fall 1995 to commercial and critical success. It won the Alabama Library Association's "Fiction of the Year" award in 1997. His second novel, "Wizard of the Wind," was based on Keith's years in radio. Keith next released a series of young adult/men's adventure novels co-written with Kent Wright set in stock car racing, titled "The Rolling Thunder Stock Car Racing Series." Keith has most recently published several non-fiction historical works about World War II submarine history and co-authored "The Ice Diaries" with Captain William Anderson, the second skipper of USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear submarine. Captain Anderson took the submarine on her historic trip across the top of the world and through the North Pole in August 1958. Mr. Keith lives with his wife, Charlene, in Indian Springs Village, Alabama.
Born and raised in Eastern Ohio, Commander Wallace received his commission in the US Navy and a degree in engineering from The Ohio State University. After the obligatory and memorable interview with Admiral Rickover, he was accepted into the nuclear power and submarine communities. He served on two of Admiral Rickover's famous "Forty One for Freedom", the USS John Adams SSBN 620 and the USS Woodrow Wilson SSBN 624, during which time he made nine one-hundred-day deterrent patrols through the height of the Cold War. George currently resides in Alexandria, VA.
