Brown Sky places the reader with a platoon of Black soldiers in the U.S. Army infantry in World War II. The story is based upon the exploits of the uncle of David Covin, the author. The fictional hero, Second Lieutenant Stephen Wenders, leads the Third Platoon from skirmishes between white and Black American troops and against the German army. The realism of  the plot and the skillful writing style carries the reader into the midst of the actions and struggles of the protagonist and his charges. 

 The underlying theme is from a quote from one of Wenders companions, “The Army got its own rules of logic. Once them rules is set, they’s set in concrete. It don’t matter if them rules say the sky is brown….It don’t matter worth a damn what your eyes be tellin’ you.” 

David Covin is an emeritus Professor of Government at California State University, Sacramento.The author bases some of his story on his experiences as a member of U.S. Navy. While serving in the Navy, Goodlett visited many of the ports described in the novel.