HISTORY itself conspired to bring to the building of the Union Pacific railroad the bones, flesh and blood of romance. It drew soldiers-of-fortune from two armies that had just been locked in a war of brothers' blood. It aroused the cupidity of men, so that while man struggled to defeat the endless miles of prairie, while troops campaigned against Indians, greed fought against patriotism and greed against greed. It spawned towns beyond the reach of civilization where payroll gold could buy three things—chips, liquor, women. It was built by men fired by the enthusiasm of zealots and by men with no thought beyond driving the next spike.

Ward Weaver has combined all of these in a novel that has the action, pace and romance of a great western motion picture and the realism that dies in the cutting-room floor. It has all the thrills that Indians, buffalo, bandits, cavalry, boom-towns, dancehalls and gamblers can suggest to the adult in whose blood still lurks a hankering for a six-shooter slung low on the hip.

This special edition of END OF TRACK has been made available to the Armed Forces of the United States through an arrangement with the original publisher, Reynal & Hitchcock, New York.

Editions for the Armed Services, Inc., a non-profit organization established by the Council on Books in Wartime.