By STEVEN A. HOLMES
Black Messiahs
An epic World War II novel that features the role Black soldiers played in Europe’s liberation, and the impact of the war on the families and loved ones. Black Messiahs pairs that narrative with the desperate struggle of a young Jewish boy and his community to survive Hitler’s murderous regime.
Inspired by a real-life story of rescue and redemption, Black Messiahs blends narratives of individual and collective resistance, romance, self-discovery, resilience, forgiveness, and the shared hardships that persevere even through humanity’s darkest hours. It is a saga that is both timely and universal.
Now Available!
Black Messiahs has been released! Click on any of the following locations to order now.
My Story
Steven A. Holmes, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist with an extensive background as a reporter and editor at leading news organizations including Time Magazine, The New York Times, and CNN, brings his expertise in reporting and editing to craft a compelling narrative of three individuals navigating the profound adversities of war, the Holocaust, and ultimately finding a path toward one another.
Steven A. Holmes
Author
Book Excerpts
Chapter 13 – Sammie
[African American soldiers in England during the Second World War] [Photograph]. (ca. 1944). Equal Justice Initiative, Montgomery, AL, United States. https://eji.org/
Chapter 33 – Isaac
[Jewish partisans entering the liberated city of Vilna, Lithuania]. (1944, July). Yad Vashem Photo Archives (Reference No. 1644/101), Jerusalem, Israel. https://www.yadvashem.org/holocaust/this-month/july/1944.html
Chapter 61 – Amos
European School. (2019, February 13). [World War Two silhouettes of three soldiers with bayonets] [Photograph]. Fine Art America. fineartamerica.com
Articles
Origin of an Idea
[Close-up of muddy caterpillar tracks on a military tank]. (2025). Aerospace & Defence. https://www.aerospace-and-defence.com/czech-republic-orders-leopard-2-a8-a-e27087c306ae19b330a989deeb4220f8/
Erasing Black History
[Photograph of the rows of white crosses and memorial tower at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial in Margraten, Netherlands]. (n.d.). American Battle Monuments Commission. https://www.abmc.gov/Netherlands
Lonnie
U.S. Army Signal Corps. (1944, November 5). [Corporal Carlton Chapman of the 761st Tank Battalion standing before his M4 Sherman tank near Nancy, France] [Photograph]. National Archives and Records Administration (Reference No. SC 196105-S), Washington, D.C., USA.
“Steven Holmes’ late father, Master Sergeant Jonathan Chesterfield Holmes, World War II veteran, would have been immensely proud to have his son expertly codify both true and imagined events coming from the home front to the battlefield, and through the gates of the Jewish detention camps during World War II. Black Messiahs tells the story. Holmes’ authentic portrayal of soldiers and units in one of America’s Armies fighting in the European Theater, early in the read, sheds light on a military period often forgotten or ignored, when America had two “defacto” armies, one white and one black, soldiers being assigned by race.”
Black Messiahs belongs in the personal library of every World War II historian and aficionado. Honors to be awarded for this masterpiece and I highly recommend it.”
– Major General Peter J. Gravett, United States Army
Upcoming Readings & Events
June 20, 2026
Black Messiahs Book Reading & Signing
Steven Holmes will be at the Headwater Cove Club House on Saturday, June 20th at 6:30 pm to read from his new book, Black Messiahs.
June 27, 2026
Black Messiahs Book Signing
Steven Holmes will be at the Lewes Juneteenth Celebration on Saturday, June 27th from 1 pm – 6 pm to sign your copy of Black Messiahs.