Worldwide Release of THE STAND: The Final Flight of Lt. Frank Luke, Jr.

[globalmedia]

"Blows the socks off everything that people think they know about Luke's Last Stand!"
- Clash of the Carriers author Barrett Tillman of Arizona


"THE STAND immediately makes every other Luke book obsolete."
- Germans Aces of WWI author Greg VanWyngarden

AVIATION NEWS
for immediate release
Contact: Alice, Global Media
alice@sopwithmotorsports.com, 317-413-6557
December 11, 2008

Worldwide Release of
THE STAND: The Final Flight of Lt. Frank Luke, Jr.

Jan Goldstein, director of The Great War in the Air, calls it "The World War I event of the season."

World War I aviation author Greg VanWyngarden calls it "The final word on the subject... once and for all."

Schiffer Publishing calls it THE STAND: The Final Flight of Lt. Frank Luke, Jr. The long-awaited book that will forever change the legacy of the famed Arizona balloon buster and World War I flying ace has now been released worldwide and hits bookstore shelves in time for Christmas. THE STAND may also be ordered at a discount online for a timely holiday delivery at THE STAND: The Final Flight of Lt. Frank Luke, Jr..

THE STAND is the definitive biography of Air Force Medal of Honor ace Lt. Frank Luke, Jr., who was killed under mysterious circumstances deep behind enemy lines in September 1918. Through a series of amazing new discoveries THE STAND unravels the enigma of Luke's sensational last stand and completely solves the mystery of his death, which had stumped historians and military researchers for nearly a century.

Sponsored by the League of World War I Aviation Historians and Welcome to The Aerodrome - Aces and Aircraft of World War I, THE STAND is a large hard cover book in 8.5x11 format, 320 pages in length. It also features more than 340 original photographs, many of which were previously unpublished, making THE STAND the single largest collection of Luke-related photos ever assembled.

Author Stephen Skinner, who led five field expeditions to France to conduct battlefield archeology at Luke's death site, says that history is about to change. "I was after the truth, whether it upheld the legend or not. This was basically America's last great aviation mystery, so I completely discarded everything that was ever written on Luke and started from scratch. There are definitely some changes in the story - big changes that alter history as we know it - but I think a lot of people are going to be surprised at how much of the Luke legend actually stands up to research. And when you finish THE STAND you won't think or imagine or guess... you'll know."

Readers who have ordered THE STAND from the book's official web site, THE STAND: The Final Flight of Lt. Frank Luke, Jr., will have their autographed copies shipped in the middle of next week for domestic US delivery around December 20-23rd. Prints of Russell Smith's cover art will arrive within this same time period for US residents. Other products, including the DVD documentary and the supplemental volume entitled THE QUEST, are expected to ship separately in January.

Skinner begins a national book tour in January with stops in Frank Luke's hometown of Phoenix, as well as engagements in Colorado Springs, Atlanta, Dayton, Glendale, Chicago, Ajo, Houston, Indianapolis, Tulsa, Las Vegas and many other locations throughout the country. The book tour will continue throughout 2009 with both speaking engagements and book signings on tap. Tour dates will be posted in early January on THE STAND: The Final Flight of Lt. Frank Luke, Jr. and updated regularly.

A complete series of video interviews with the author, the documentary producer, and more is available at THE STAND: The Final Flight of Lt. Frank Luke, Jr..

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[retread]

Synchronicity strikes. I was literally just about to post asking whether anyone was aware if " The Stand " would be out before Christmas. Looking forward to this.

Congratulations to Stephen !

[stephen]

Life just sort of exploded at my office tonight... our entire staff is still working and none of us are going to bed any time soon. Schiffer didn't give us the slightest idea that the book would be out until today! Nothing like no advance notice! Eek.

We'll be working all night. Alice just got another tour booking (its like I'm living in AZ this year!) and had to get the press releases out, SD is hustling to get the new promo video edited and out by tomorrow and posted on all our sites and sponsor pages, Justin is hustling on the web site, Mark is editing the documentary and Sharon is working with the printer on bookmarks and THE QUEST. And I'm sitting here trying to answer staff questions and manage the mailing list and get interview questions answered and ready, and get Schiffer's press list ready as well.

We're also hustling to get the documentary on two TV networks, and make contact with every WWI organization in the country to coordinate speaking engagements.

I do NOT envy Greg VanWyngarden, Barrett Tillman, and our other big time authors around here. Sheesh. This will give you a heart attack.

However, its 16 years of work coming to fruition and I promise you, you will not be disappointed in this book. Oh, happy day!

Thanks to Scott, all our customers (your orders will be shipped in a few days!) and everyone who helped make this happen.