I really enjoyed both Winds of War and War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk. Centers on a career navel officer and his family during WWII
pineapple-expresso on
Man’s search for meaning by Viktor Frankl
[deleted] on
[removed]
Greatgreenbird on
*Regeneration* (and sequels) by Pat Barker – an amazing trilogy of books about WW1 and the birth of psychiatry to treat shell shock (PTSD).
*Goodbye to All That* by Robert Graves – autobiography of the poet/novellist, who went pretty much straight from public school to the trenches of WW1
Sword of Honour trilogy by Evelyn Waugh, starts with *Men at Arms* – set in WW2, this is basically a semi-fictionalised version of the author’s own war experiences but with added ridiculousness on top.
Scuttling-Claws on
The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich
Mysterious-Bet-7192 on
Edith Egar – The Choice. The message of her story is so powerful and beautiful.
TheDustOfMen on
*Testament of Youth* by Vera Brittain, a non-fiction book about WW1. I’ve always loved this quote:
>How fortunate we were who still had hope I did not then realise; I could not know how soon the time would come when we should have no more hope, and yet be unable to die.
There’s also a compilation of letters between Vera Brittain and her fiancé, brother, and two friends, it’s called *Letters from a lost generation*. It provides unique perspectives on the war itself and the perception of it from the point of view of soldiers, nurses, and the civilian population back home.
Also, *The End* by Ian Kershaw, a non-fiction book about the last year of war in Germany and how it was willing and able to fight to the bitter end.
gamename on
For WWII, have a look at The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer. It’s an interesting perspective. He was in the German army.
BernardFerguson1944 on
Memoirs:
• *With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa* by E.B. Sledge.
• *The Forgotten Soldier* by Guy Sajer.
• *Out of the Smoke: The Story of a Sail* [Battle of Sunda Strait] by Ray Parkin.
• *Into the Smother* by Ray Parkin.
• *The Sword and the Blossom* by Ray Parkin.
• *Helmet for My Pillow* by Robert Leckie.
• *Japanese Destroyer Captain* by Tameichi Hara, Fred Saito and Roger Pineau.
• *Japan’s Greatest Victory, Britain’s Worst Defeat: The Capture and Fall of Singapore 1942* by Masanobu Tsuji.
• *From Ingleburn To Aitape: The Trials And Tribulations Of A Four Figure Man* by Bob “Hooker” Holt, 2/3rd Australian Infantry Battalion, 16th Brigade, 6th Division, 2nd A.I.F.
• *Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War* by William Manchester.
• *Requiem for Battleship Yamato* by Yoshida Mitsuru.
• *The Raft: The Courageous Struggle of Three Naval Airmen Against the Sea* by Robert Trumbull.
• *God Is My Co-Pilot* by Robert L. Scott and C. L. Chennault.
• *Kamikaze: A Japanese Pilot’s Own Spectacular Story of the Famous Suicide Squadrons* by Yasuo Kuwahara and Gordon T. Allred.
• *Samurai!: the Unforgettable Saga of Japan’s Greatest Fighter Pilot* by Saburo Sakai and Martin Caidin.
• *The Divine Wind* by Rikihei Inoguchi and Tadashi Nakajima.
• *Return of the Enola Gay* by Paul W. Tibbets.
• *No Surrender: My Thirty-Year War* by Hiroo Onoda.
• *A Change of Jungles* by Miles Smeeton.
• *Beyond the Chindwin: An Account of Number Five Column of the Wingate Expedition into Burma, 1943* by Bernard Fergusson.
• *The Wild Green Earth* by Bernard Ferguson.
• *Corvette Command* by Nicholas Montsarrat.
• *H. M. Corvette* by Nicholas Montsarrat.
• *East Coast Corvette* by Nicholas Monsarrat.
• *The Laughing Cow: A U-boat Captain’s Story* by Jost Metzler.
• *Death Traps: The Survival of an American Armored Division in World War II* by Belton Y. Cooper.
• *Company Commander: The Classic Infantry Memoir of World War II* by Charles B. MacDonald.
• *Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters* by Dick Winters.
• *Thunderbolt!: An Extraordinary Story of a World War II Ace* by Robert S. Johnson.
• *The Blond Knight of Germany* by Raymond F. Toliver and Trevor J. Constable.
• *Stuka Pilot* by Hans Ulrich Rudel.
• *A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II* by Adam Makos and Larry Alexander.
• *The Cretan Runner: The Story of the German Occupation* by Giórgos Psychountákis.
• *Rubber Truncheon: Being An Account Of Thirteen Months Spent In A Concentration Camp* by Wolfgang Langhoff.
• *Night* by Elie Wiesel.
• *Babi Yar: A Document in the Form of a Novel* by Anatoly Kuznetsov.
• *Bataan Death March: A Soldier’s Story* by James Bollich.
• *Bataan Death March: A Survivor’s Account* by William E. Dyess.
• *Three Came Home* by Agnes Newton Keith.
• *The Night of a Thousand Suicides: the Japanese Outbreak at Cowra* by Teruhiko Asada and Ray Cowan (trans. and ed.).
• *Kriegie: Prisoner of War* by Kenneth Simmons.
• *Diary of a Nightmare: Berlin, 1942-1945* by Ursula von Kardorff.
​
Biographies:
*Adolf Hitler: The Definitive Biography* by John Toland. (Very good).
*The Reich Marshall: A Biography of Hermann Goering* by Leonard Mosley.
*Knight’s Cross: A Life of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel* by David Fraser.
*Wings, Women, and War Soviet Airwomen in World War II Combat* by Reina Pennington.
*Four Samurai: A Quartet of Japanese Army Commanders in the Second World War* by Arthur Swinson. Biographies of four Japanese Army generals: Homma (‘41/’42 Philippines), Yamashita (Malaya ‘41/’42 and Philippines ‘44/’45), Mutaguchi (‘44 Imphal offensive) and Honda (‘44 northern Burma).
*The Tiger of Malaya: The Story* [biographies] *of General Tomoyuki Yamashita and “Death March” General Masaharu Homma* by Aubrey Saint Kenworthy.
​
WWI memoirs:
*Neath Verdun: The Experiences of a French Soldier During the Early Months of the First World War* by Maurice Genevoix.
*Storm of Steel* by Ernst Jünger.
*All Quiet on the Western Front* by Erich Maria Remarque (fiction).
*Three Soldiers* by John Dos Passos (fiction).
*For Whom the Bells Toll* by Ernest Hemingway (fiction).
*A Farewell to Arms* by Ernest Hemingway (fiction).
*The Outlaws* by Ernst von Salomon.
Caleb_Trask19 on
The Facemaker about the emergence of the specialization of plastic surgery because of trench warfare in WWI is fascinating.
hoopa-loops on
The Boy Who Followed His Father Into Auschwitz by Jeremy Dronfield
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
LakusMcLortho on
Spain in Our Hearts – Adam Hochschild
-it’s about the Spanish civil war leading into WW2, particularly the international brigades and the foreigners who volunteered to fight against rising fascism (several of which became household names)
Symphony for the City of the Dead – MT Anderson
-YA nonfiction that chronicles life during the drive of Leningrad, during which composer Dmitri Shostakovich managed to write his 7th symphony.
All Quiet on the Western Front – Erich Maria Remarque
-a classic, needs no introduction
All the Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr
-A novel in which WW2 is only the setting. Really just an amazing book. I read it when it came out, and it’s still a go-to recommendation.
A Storm in Flanders – Winston Groom
-WW1 account of Ypres from 1914-1918. An excellent book that’s engagingly written.
LakusMcLortho on
I’ll add “Fall of Berlin 1945” by Antony Beevor. Shows the death cult nature of the Reich at the end of WW2, and the suffering that came full circle to be inflicted back upon Germany because of its leadership.
NotDaveBut on
BACK TO THE FRONT by Stephen O’Shea. THE ROSES OF NO MAN’S LAND by Lyn McDonald. THE SOLDIER’S WAR by Richard Van Emden. WITH THE GERMAN ARMIES IN THE WEST by Sven Hedin, if you can find it. WOUNDED by Emily Mayhew. WAR AGAINST WAR! by Ernst Friedrich.
slowstarlady on
I see a few people have already mentioned All Quiet in the Western Front, but I’ll second the recommendation. Probably one of the most deeply affecting books I’ve ever read.
15 Comments
I really enjoyed both Winds of War and War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk. Centers on a career navel officer and his family during WWII
Man’s search for meaning by Viktor Frankl
[removed]
*Regeneration* (and sequels) by Pat Barker – an amazing trilogy of books about WW1 and the birth of psychiatry to treat shell shock (PTSD).
*Goodbye to All That* by Robert Graves – autobiography of the poet/novellist, who went pretty much straight from public school to the trenches of WW1
Sword of Honour trilogy by Evelyn Waugh, starts with *Men at Arms* – set in WW2, this is basically a semi-fictionalised version of the author’s own war experiences but with added ridiculousness on top.
The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich
Edith Egar – The Choice. The message of her story is so powerful and beautiful.
*Testament of Youth* by Vera Brittain, a non-fiction book about WW1. I’ve always loved this quote:
>How fortunate we were who still had hope I did not then realise; I could not know how soon the time would come when we should have no more hope, and yet be unable to die.
There’s also a compilation of letters between Vera Brittain and her fiancé, brother, and two friends, it’s called *Letters from a lost generation*. It provides unique perspectives on the war itself and the perception of it from the point of view of soldiers, nurses, and the civilian population back home.
Also, *The End* by Ian Kershaw, a non-fiction book about the last year of war in Germany and how it was willing and able to fight to the bitter end.
For WWII, have a look at The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer. It’s an interesting perspective. He was in the German army.
Memoirs:
• *With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa* by E.B. Sledge.
• *The Forgotten Soldier* by Guy Sajer.
• *Out of the Smoke: The Story of a Sail* [Battle of Sunda Strait] by Ray Parkin.
• *Into the Smother* by Ray Parkin.
• *The Sword and the Blossom* by Ray Parkin.
• *Helmet for My Pillow* by Robert Leckie.
• *Japanese Destroyer Captain* by Tameichi Hara, Fred Saito and Roger Pineau.
• *Japan’s Greatest Victory, Britain’s Worst Defeat: The Capture and Fall of Singapore 1942* by Masanobu Tsuji.
• *From Ingleburn To Aitape: The Trials And Tribulations Of A Four Figure Man* by Bob “Hooker” Holt, 2/3rd Australian Infantry Battalion, 16th Brigade, 6th Division, 2nd A.I.F.
• *Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War* by William Manchester.
• *Requiem for Battleship Yamato* by Yoshida Mitsuru.
• *The Raft: The Courageous Struggle of Three Naval Airmen Against the Sea* by Robert Trumbull.
• *God Is My Co-Pilot* by Robert L. Scott and C. L. Chennault.
• *Kamikaze: A Japanese Pilot’s Own Spectacular Story of the Famous Suicide Squadrons* by Yasuo Kuwahara and Gordon T. Allred.
• *Samurai!: the Unforgettable Saga of Japan’s Greatest Fighter Pilot* by Saburo Sakai and Martin Caidin.
• *The Divine Wind* by Rikihei Inoguchi and Tadashi Nakajima.
• *Return of the Enola Gay* by Paul W. Tibbets.
• *No Surrender: My Thirty-Year War* by Hiroo Onoda.
• *A Change of Jungles* by Miles Smeeton.
• *Beyond the Chindwin: An Account of Number Five Column of the Wingate Expedition into Burma, 1943* by Bernard Fergusson.
• *The Wild Green Earth* by Bernard Ferguson.
• *Corvette Command* by Nicholas Montsarrat.
• *H. M. Corvette* by Nicholas Montsarrat.
• *East Coast Corvette* by Nicholas Monsarrat.
• *The Laughing Cow: A U-boat Captain’s Story* by Jost Metzler.
• *Death Traps: The Survival of an American Armored Division in World War II* by Belton Y. Cooper.
• *Company Commander: The Classic Infantry Memoir of World War II* by Charles B. MacDonald.
• *Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters* by Dick Winters.
• *Thunderbolt!: An Extraordinary Story of a World War II Ace* by Robert S. Johnson.
• *The Blond Knight of Germany* by Raymond F. Toliver and Trevor J. Constable.
• *Stuka Pilot* by Hans Ulrich Rudel.
• *A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II* by Adam Makos and Larry Alexander.
• *The Cretan Runner: The Story of the German Occupation* by Giórgos Psychountákis.
• *Rubber Truncheon: Being An Account Of Thirteen Months Spent In A Concentration Camp* by Wolfgang Langhoff.
• *Night* by Elie Wiesel.
• *Babi Yar: A Document in the Form of a Novel* by Anatoly Kuznetsov.
• *Bataan Death March: A Soldier’s Story* by James Bollich.
• *Bataan Death March: A Survivor’s Account* by William E. Dyess.
• *Three Came Home* by Agnes Newton Keith.
• *The Night of a Thousand Suicides: the Japanese Outbreak at Cowra* by Teruhiko Asada and Ray Cowan (trans. and ed.).
• *Kriegie: Prisoner of War* by Kenneth Simmons.
• *Diary of a Nightmare: Berlin, 1942-1945* by Ursula von Kardorff.
​
Biographies:
*Adolf Hitler: The Definitive Biography* by John Toland. (Very good).
*The Reich Marshall: A Biography of Hermann Goering* by Leonard Mosley.
*Knight’s Cross: A Life of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel* by David Fraser.
*Wings, Women, and War Soviet Airwomen in World War II Combat* by Reina Pennington.
*Four Samurai: A Quartet of Japanese Army Commanders in the Second World War* by Arthur Swinson. Biographies of four Japanese Army generals: Homma (‘41/’42 Philippines), Yamashita (Malaya ‘41/’42 and Philippines ‘44/’45), Mutaguchi (‘44 Imphal offensive) and Honda (‘44 northern Burma).
*The Tiger of Malaya: The Story* [biographies] *of General Tomoyuki Yamashita and “Death March” General Masaharu Homma* by Aubrey Saint Kenworthy.
​
WWI memoirs:
*Neath Verdun: The Experiences of a French Soldier During the Early Months of the First World War* by Maurice Genevoix.
*Storm of Steel* by Ernst Jünger.
*All Quiet on the Western Front* by Erich Maria Remarque (fiction).
*Three Soldiers* by John Dos Passos (fiction).
*For Whom the Bells Toll* by Ernest Hemingway (fiction).
*A Farewell to Arms* by Ernest Hemingway (fiction).
*The Outlaws* by Ernst von Salomon.
The Facemaker about the emergence of the specialization of plastic surgery because of trench warfare in WWI is fascinating.
The Boy Who Followed His Father Into Auschwitz by Jeremy Dronfield
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Spain in Our Hearts – Adam Hochschild
-it’s about the Spanish civil war leading into WW2, particularly the international brigades and the foreigners who volunteered to fight against rising fascism (several of which became household names)
Symphony for the City of the Dead – MT Anderson
-YA nonfiction that chronicles life during the drive of Leningrad, during which composer Dmitri Shostakovich managed to write his 7th symphony.
All Quiet on the Western Front – Erich Maria Remarque
-a classic, needs no introduction
All the Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr
-A novel in which WW2 is only the setting. Really just an amazing book. I read it when it came out, and it’s still a go-to recommendation.
A Storm in Flanders – Winston Groom
-WW1 account of Ypres from 1914-1918. An excellent book that’s engagingly written.
I’ll add “Fall of Berlin 1945” by Antony Beevor. Shows the death cult nature of the Reich at the end of WW2, and the suffering that came full circle to be inflicted back upon Germany because of its leadership.
BACK TO THE FRONT by Stephen O’Shea. THE ROSES OF NO MAN’S LAND by Lyn McDonald. THE SOLDIER’S WAR by Richard Van Emden. WITH THE GERMAN ARMIES IN THE WEST by Sven Hedin, if you can find it. WOUNDED by Emily Mayhew. WAR AGAINST WAR! by Ernst Friedrich.
I see a few people have already mentioned All Quiet in the Western Front, but I’ll second the recommendation. Probably one of the most deeply affecting books I’ve ever read.