Blood Is Thicker than War: Brothers and Sisters on the Front Lines

By Martin King and Michael Collins

Journey back through time to discover remarkable accounts of parents who waved off their sons and daughters, never knowing if they would ever see them again. One mother saw no less than ten of her sons between the ages of eighteen and thirty-seven, dispatched to the frontline in the First World War. The biggest “real” band of brothers that ever served their country, but to discover how many made it back and who this dear lady was, you will have to read the rest. War is completely indiscriminate when it comes to inflicting suffering and heartbreak on families, particularly when one’s own blood takes up arms to fight with, and in some cases against their own kin. These stories recount some of the prime examples of families divided and united in some of the direst conflict.

When British police discovered the body of a dead woman, who locals knew as the “Crazy Cat Lady” they found a small bundle of possessions that revealed a truly incredible story of two amazing sisters who served behind enemy lines as elite Special Operations Agents (SOE) during World War II.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Permuted
• Release date: Sep 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9781637583531

Martin King

Martin King is a highly qualified British Military Historian/Lecturer who’s had the honor of reintroducing many US, British and German veterans to the WWII battlefields where they fought. He lives in Belgium near Antwerp where he spends his time writing, lecturing and visiting European battlefields. He is a British citizen who has been resident in Belgium since 1981. Previous to that he attended Wakefield Technical and Arts College and followed a foundation course in Teacher Training. In 1981 he decided to continue his academic career firstly with a teacher training course at the famous Berlitz Language School, and secondly with a degree course in European History at the ULB University in Brussels, where he also began studying military history. In 2000 he was offered a position at Antwerp University. Around this time he began writing the first draft of ‘Voices of the Bulge’, a book based on a series of one to one interviews with veterans who participated in the Battle of the Bulge. Later he was joined by co-author Michael Collins who assisted in this project. His voluntary work with veterans and the tracing the individual histories of veterans has been a labor of love for almost 20 years. He speaks fluent German, Dutch, Italian and French. Frequently in demand as a public speaker he has lectured at many British and US military bases throughout the world. His activities came to the attention of some major military documentary makers in Hollywood. The History Channel hired Martin to be their Senior Historical Consultant on their series “Cities of the Underworld”. In 2007 he began a three year assignment to work on the hit series ‘Greatest Tank Battles’, currently the most watched military documentary in the US. Shortly thereafter he accepted an invitation to work as a Presenter/Historical Consultant on the series ‘Narrow Escapes’ with Bafta Award winning documentary makers WMR.He was recently invited to the prestigious West Point Military Academy and Valley Forge Military College in the United States. Due to his extensive work on veteran research, at Valley Forge he was honoured by being asked to officially open the ‘Eric Fisher Woods’ Library. His documentary film based on the book ‘Voices of the Bulge’ is currently in production. Widely regarded as an authority on European Military History, General Graham Hollands referred to him as the “Greatest living expert on the Battle of the Bulge”. Fellow writer and notable historian Professor Carlton Joyce said “He really is the best on the Ardennes". Stephen Ambrose author of ‘Band of Brothers’ referred to him as ‘Our expert on the Battle of the Bulge’.