The Black Knights is a thrilling and unusual story about four fighter pilots of African descent serving in the German air force in World War II.The author, J. Marcellus Burke, was seeking information about the role that African Americans played in World War II. He became aware the fact that Germany may have failed to tell the stories of the activities of soldiers of African descent in their military units. His research led him to the conclusion that there might have been persons of African descent in the Luftwaffe.

The author, J. Marcellus Burke, is a retired Chicago Police detective. While he was in the U.S. Army, he was stationed in Austria and Germany. His knowledge of German was helpful to him in the military and in his research.