Shadows of War

About the Book

Shadows of War tells the story of World War II as few Americans know it.

In the mid-1930s a high school history teacher inspires a student to look beyond his small hometown. He becomes a Foreign Service officer, and they then anchor a World War II story that provides perspectives little known to Americans. A Romanian princess cares for more than 3,000 orphans and rescues more than 1,000 downed American flyers – and tussles with the SS to keep the POWs from their control at considerable risk to herself. On air raids over Romania, American crews must fly 1,200 miles – on creatively named planes such as Wingo-Wango and Jersey Bounce – at just 50 feet off the “deck” to launch attacks on the stoutly defended oil refineries at Ploesti. In Singapore and Malaysia a mild-mannered father of seven becomes a resistance leader after the Japanese invasion, and four gutsy nuns who serve as nurses try to stay a step ahead of the brutal conquerors.

About the Author

Mike Johnson is the author of four meticulously researched historical novels as well as a fifth book – Mascot, Minister, Man of Steel-The Final Reunion – that tells the story of kids he knew in his youth and with whom he reunited decades later. They had known serious hardships and handled them with courage and grace. The resulting book pays tribute to the resilience of the human spirit. In researching his historical novels, Johnson has visited nations from Poland and Romania to Singapore and Malaysia. His aim is writing stories that give readers a sense of “really being there” as history unfolds. Numerous readers have told him, “I never liked history – until I read your books.” Johnson is an alumnus of Ohio University, Marshall Law at Cleveland State University and Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. He is married to Lynne and they have three adult children, Andrea, Zach and Ben; a daughter-in-law, Jessica; and one granddaughter, Elsie Lee Anne.