Yesterday was a big day. Working back and forth with my editors at Bantam, we closed the last detail. China’s Wings is finished. Took seven and a half years to research, write, and edit – four to five YEARS longer than I originally anticipated — but it is at last finished and will be off to the printer after the New Year. Alea jacta est. I sincerely hope I’ve done CNAC’s story justice.
Tracy Devine, my excellent and delightful editor, also received a brief review from #1 New York Times bestselling author James Bradley, he of Flags of Our Fathers, Flyboys, and The Imperial Cruise. (She’d sent him a galley to read and review.) This is what he wrote:
“In China’s Wings, Gregory Crouch recalls the remarkable encounter between an ancient civilization and the most modern technology in the world, as intrepid Americans [and their Chinese partners] struggled to establish a sophisticated air network over a vast land that barely knew electricity. This gripping book will transport you to a fascinating lost time.”
Thank you Mr. Bradley. So glad you enjoyed it.
It’s also worth noting that on this day in 1941 (December 8 on the other side of the International Date line, in Hong Kong), CNAC’s base at Kai Tak Airport was bombed by the Japanese at about 8 o’clock in the morning. The intensely dramatic events of 8-10 December, 1941 comprise one of my favorite chapters in the whole book. I wrote about it briefly last year, in “Those planes are Japanese!”
Great review – well done! I can hardly wait to read it. C.N.A.C. figures prominently in Nick Grant’s next adventure. Your research will help me remain true to the history without sacrificing the story. I’ve preordered with Amazon but how can I get a signed copy?
v/r Jamie
It’ll be fun to see how you play it all out, Jamie. Thanks for checking in. Cheers, GC
Greg – Congratulations for a job very well done!! You are helping to keep CNAC alive for several more generations. Thanks!
Thanks, Tom. Keeping the CNAC story alive has always been mission #1. China’s Wings owes much to your support and cooperation through the course of the last decade.
Congratulations both on finishing and on the great review! It’s been a long journey, and somehow it seems fitting that you’d finish a book (at least peripherally) about WWII on the day that launched the US into WWII for real, and saw an attack on CNAC’s base of operations in Hong Kong.
Thanks Kathryn! I’m excited to hold an actual copy. Probably about sixty days from now.