When I was a teenager, I was close to my maternal grandfather, Milton M. Brown. I was fascinated by the time he spent as a "delegate" in Herbert Hoover's WWI Commission for Relief in Belgium (CRB). He was one of only 185 American supervisors who ever worked for the CRB. After he died in 1979, I inherited all his diaries, correspondence and photographs from that period (1916-1917).
From 1986 through 1989, I worked full time researching the time period, WWI, the CRB, and numerous delegates. From those efforts, I wrote an 850-page historical novel,
Honor Bound. I had a few nibbles -- agents and publishers who asked for the entire manuscript -- but no one offered a contract. In the late 1990s, I made a half-hearted attempt to rewrite the novel, but it didn't go far.
After my second book,
Facing Your Fifties: Every Man's Reference to Mid-life Health came out in 2002 (and was included in
Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2002), my agent looked at
Honor Bound. He suggested the topic would do well -- and fit my writing strengths -- if it was a history book written in novel-like style.
At the end of 2012, as I turned 60 years old, I came to the conclusion that it was time to take up this incredible humanitarian story again and see if I could make it work.
After more than a year of researching and writing, and with the help of a talented book team, I published
Behind the Lines: WWI's little-known story of German occupation, Belgian resistance, and the band of Yanks who helped save millions from starvation. 1914. It detailed the complex and chaotic beginnings of the CRB and CN during the critical first five months of the war (August to December, 1914). It was released in October 2014 in time for the 100-year anniversary of the start of WWI and the CRB.
Since then, I'm happy to report that
Behind the Lines has garnered national recognitions and reviews that include a Kirkus Starred Review (only 750 out of 10,000 books annually reviewed by Kirkus are awarded a Starred Review) and inclusion in Kirkus Reviews' Best Books of 2014. The last sentence of the review states: "An excellent history that should catapult Miller to the top tier of popular historians." You can read all the reviews at the book's website, which can be reached by
clicking here.Since 2015, my main goal has been to finish researching and writing
WWI Crusaders, which tells the riveting full story in one volume of the American CRB delegates from August, 1914 to May, 1917, when the last Americans had to leave Belgium because of America's entry in the war.
Below are my blog posts. Each week through to the end of 2018 I’ll start each blog post with a “Don’t-Forget-WWI-Project” item. It’s my way of honoring all those who participated (willingly or unwillingly) in World War I (1914-1918).
It's also my way of drawing attention to my new book,
WWI Crusaders: A band of Yanks in German-occupied Belgium help save millions from starvation as civilians resist the harsh German rule. August 1914 to May 1917.After the "Don't-Forget-WWI-Project" item, my blog post will be about my self-publishing
WWI Crusaders and my PR and marketing efforts to get national media exposure for this incredible humanitarian story that has all but been forgotten today.
I hope you find something of interest within this blog. For more information about
Behind the Lines and
WWI Crusaders, please go to the books' website by
clicking here.
A Spot of History: Foreshadowing of World War TWO: Most people know about WWII’s horrific aerial Battle of Britain, when the German Luftwaffe (Air Force) tries to bomb England into submission (doesn’t work!). 
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