AND THE WALLS CAME TUMBLING DOWN
By W.M. Gunn
Alternative History / Historical Fiction / Family Saga
Publisher: Atmosphere Press
Publication Date: August 11, 2025
*** SYNOPSIS ***
And the Walls Came Tumbling Down reimagines the twentieth century as it might have unfolded if fate had shifted—and mercy had not.
Two families, one American and one German, collide across World War I, the Great Depression, and a radically altered World War II, shaped by hatred, sacrifice, and forces that feel uncomfortably divine. As twin brothers choose opposing paths within Nazi Germany and a Texas farm boy takes to the skies, history veers off course. D-Day collapses in disaster. Britain faces annihilation. Volunteer pilots launch desperate missions, and a single flight toward Berlin carries the weight of ending the war at an unimaginable cost. Biblical echoes of Jericho haunt every turning point, raising unsettling questions about destiny, justice, and intervention.
Blending military history, family saga, and psychological tension, this gripping alternative history challenges readers to ask what if history changed, and what the cost of that change would be.
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*** REVIEW ***
Much like one of the author’s previous book, The Two Terrors of Tulelake, this one has strengths and weaknesses.
The introduction of an alternate history that changed things that many of us are familiar with from World War II, like the outcome of D-Day, was an interesting story-telling technique. Bending reality that way certainly piques reader interest.
AsI read some parts of the story, I wondered if I’d just forgotten some things from my long-ago world history classes, such as the German plan to build rockets in Mexico as well as Operation Falling Sky that was a kamikaze-style attack on German planes that were headed to bomb London. The men who volunteered for those missions were Japanese American pilots in the fiction that Gunn imagined.
It’s important that readers keep in mind that this story relies on the fiction of that alternate history. Not everything is based on true events and facts, and young people who may not know much about the history of that time and the war, will need to make sure they don’t take everything as gospel.
This is a time period that I like to read about, so I always eagerly look forward to new novels that are set in those years of the Second World War. Reading Gunn’s imaginative alternate history was an enjoyable experience.
This novel, like the other one I read, has some of the same craft issues that pulled me away from the story, such as introducing multiple points of view in a scene, and characterization that leaned toward stereotypes. That was especially true for the twin brothers who were in opposite camps when it came to German philosophy at the time and their individual reactions to the oppression of people who were deemed unworthy to even be alive.
I never did understand why the detailed focus on biblical history of Judaism was included. While that history certainly is important to bring to light, it was too intrusive to this story and could be a book of its own. The information that a reader needs in order to see the through-line of how Jews have been discriminated against for centuries and how that impacts the attitudes of the Nazis, could’ve been presented more concisely. That way, the main storyline, where the drama was happening, would have had more of the center stage in the novel.
If you like novels set in this time period and don’t mind an author playing with reality, this is a book you might want to add to your reading list. It’s a satisfying read.
*** ABOUT THE AUTHOR ***
WM Gunn is a native Texan who spent many years in the pharmaceutical industry and is now focused on writing. He is active in writing groups and volunteering with non-profit groups. He lives in his hometown in Texas with his high school sweetheart bride of many years. To date, he has published hundreds of short stories, two novellas, and two full-length novels. Holmes, Moriarty, and the Monkeys and Chasing the Sun were two novellas released in 2024. His debut novel, The Two Terrors of Tulelake, was released in 2024. The Calendar was his next novel, published in 2025. Now, And The Walls Came Tumbling Down, the first book in an exciting trilogy, will be published in September.
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*** GIVEAWAY ***
Three winners will get a signed paperback copy of the book.
U.S. Only
Contest ends 26 September
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