In just three weeks, the story of “The Mathews Men” comes to booksellers across America. Written by Bill Geroux, the book tells about the county’s merchant mariners who carried fuel, ammunition and other vital supplies and war goods during World War II to allies in Europe, and up and down the Atlantic coast, against the deadly aim of German submarines.

About two dozen county men died when their ships were torpedoed, and many others survived, some with serious injuries, the sinking of their ships. Geroux tells about those who were lost and those who lived. His book also relates how the survivors rested up and went back to sea, keeping the supply chains open throughout the war, and how their families at home coped with the constant fear and uncertainty of their men who were always in the bull’s-eye.

It is set for publication by Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House, on April 19.

The subtitle of “The Mathews Men” is “Seven Brothers and the...