WWII Fiction

diamondlil · Post by **diamondlil** » Sat August 30th, 2008, 9:54 am

Whilst this is by no means an exhaustive list, I thought I would repost this link to a few suggestions on WWII fiction.

Margaret · Post by **Margaret** » Tue September 2nd, 2008, 5:32 pm

I've just added another 51 postings to the World War II page of my Historical Novels website at http://www.HistoricalNovels.info/World-War-II.html. Some of these are not actually historical novels, since they were written by people who lived through the war - for example, Olivia Manning's series based on her and her husband's experiences in Bucharest immediately before and during the war. Others are new releases like The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. A lot of these are novels that Annis tipped me off about. (Thanks, Annis!)

I'm experimenting with making the titles work as links to Powell's Books. Ultimately, I'd like to have a link for every title on the site, but the search engines don't seem to like so many links on the page - they downgrade my listing if I add too many. As more people visit the site, though, this seems to be less of a problem. Powell's has publisher synopses and reviews for many of the titles, which supplement the information at http://www.HistoricalNovels.info. Also, they give me a small percentage whenever someone buys a book through the site, which helps pay the out-of-pocket costs of maintaining it.

tsjmom · Post by **tsjmom** » Tue September 2nd, 2008, 7:18 pm

For once something to which I can actually contribute LOL! I would also add: "Jackdaws", "The Book Thief", "The Good German", and "Behind Enemy Lines". All, especially #2 and #4, are really great reads!

Margaret · Post by **Margaret** » Wed September 3rd, 2008, 9:19 pm

Thanks, tsjmom! I've just added these to the World War II page at http://www.HistoricalNovels.info, except for Behind Enemy Lines, which I think is a memoir rather than a novel. I've read Jackdaws and The Good German. As I recall, Jackdaws was a standard thriller, with the focus on the dangerous mission, while The Good German was a more thoughtful novel with the characters more fleshed out. The Book Thief looks good - I would probably enjoy that more than the other two.

tsjmom · Post by **tsjmom** » Wed September 3rd, 2008, 10:32 pm

Margaret, The Book Thief is one of the all time best I've ever read! Let me know what you think when you're finished.

As far as Behind Enemy Lines, yes it is a memoir, but please don't let that stop you from reading it or adding to the list. I gave this to my MIL, who's an AVID reader/intellect and prefers stories written by/about women, and she was amazed by it. You'd be stunned to no end at how this blonde Jew survived and spied on Nazi Germany!

Margaret · Post by **Margaret** » Thu September 4th, 2008, 6:15 am

It's not a value judgment - I've read a lot of stupendously good memoirs - and for that matter, some of the novels I've listed on the Historical Novels website are pretty dreadful (at least IMHO). But if I don't stick to fiction only on the Historical Novels website, the floodgates would open and the site would become totally unmanageable! Though I do suggest companion nonfiction reading with the reviews.

I'll have to put The Book Thief on my TBR. It's getting sooo long - I joke that it's almost 3500 items long, because I've only read a small fraction of the novels listed on my site.

Margaret · Post by **Margaret** » Sun September 14th, 2008, 5:22 am

Berlin Noir is a single volume containing the first three mystery novels by Philip Kerr featuring his fictional Berlin detective Bernie Gunther: March Violets, A Pale Criminal and A German Requiem. Sue Gillmor has just contributed another one of her clear and concise reviews for http://www.HistoricalNovels.info of this three-novel set at http://www.HistoricalNovels.info/Berlin-Noir.html.

EC2 · Post by **EC2** » Sun September 14th, 2008, 2:52 pm

I really enjoyed Under an English Heaven by Robert Radcliffe re WWII books and so did one of my best USA reading buddies. It's well worth checking out. Amazon UK link here.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Under-English-H ... 0349115036

Land Girls by Angelia Huth is excellent too.

Volgadon · Post by **Volgadon** » Sun September 14th, 2008, 2:54 pm

I've yet to read it, but Russian HF novelist, Valentin Pikul, wrote an eponymous novel about PQ-17.

donroc · Post by **donroc** » Sun September 14th, 2008, 4:13 pm

A few oldies but goodies off the top of my head:

The Young Lions by Irwin Shaw
Battle Cry by Leon Uris
The Gallery by Burns (forgot his first name)
A Bell for Adano by John Hersey ( I think)
The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk

Some titles, the authors of which I have forgotten:

The Last of the Just (Andres Schwarzbart I think)
The War Lover

Remarque wrote one set in a concentration camp.

I did not particularly enjoy The Naked and the Dead by Mailer.

Historical Fiction Online

WWII Fiction

WWII Fiction

Historical Novels site

Review of Philip Kerr's Berlin Noir