Just finished the Rick Atkinson trilogy (starts with Army at Dawn); takes you through the US Army’s development as a fighting force from North Africa, through Italy, and then into France and Germany. It’s detailed and unsparing, no jingoism. Sort of a parallel to Bruce Catton’s trilogy about the Civil War.
Also loved Victor Davis Hanson’s book “The Second World Wars”; which is a high level strategy analysis about how the war was won, industrial advantages, etc…
Just finished The Splendid and the Vile, a good telling of the story, although it had too many details of family life; Mary Churchill for instance deciding whether to swim with or without a swim cap.
Love Hampton Sides but haven't read his Ghost Soldiers. Putting that on my list! Loved Man's Search for Meaning, and Unbroken. And would add The Book Thief for fiction, although I love it just for the characters themselves rather than a depiction of WWII. Although the depiction of its time is wonderful, too.
I was also going to suggest Beevors WW2, while I read a fair amount WW2 is a gap in my knowledge. His writing style, neutral perspective, and the way he shows key moments through the words of people present at those events makes for a very engaging read. My husband has many more of his books (Stalingrad, Berlin, Arnhem, etc) and can't speak highly enough of him as a historian.
I have three recommendations — two that are literary-leaning but super readable and beautifully done and a series that's consistently awesome.
HHhH by Laurent Binet, translated from French by Sam Taylor: A creative account of the assassination attempt of Reinhard Heidrich in Prague in 1942. (The book’s title HHhH stands for Himmlers Hirn heißt Heydrich, which means ‘Himmler’s brain is called Heydrich.’)
The Curse of Pietro Houdini by Derek B Miller: Set in 1943 Italy. Complex characters who form a found family at a besieged monastery. When the Nazis begin to steal art from the monks, our heroes formulate a plan to steal it back. It starts as an orphan story, morphs into a caper, and has a perfect ending with Big Feelings. My friend and I read it together and texted back and forth throughout with favorite sentences and 'OMG CAN YOU BELIEVE WHAT JUST HAPPENED' kind of messages.
The Bernie Gunther series by Philip Kerr: The series spans the years leading up to WWII, the war, and the post-war period. Throughout, homicide detective Bernie Gunther struggles with his internal conflict: He’s a native Berliner who hates the Nazis, but he’s very fond of breathing — so he ends of working against them from inside. You don't have to read in order because the series jumps around in time. One of my favorites is Prague Fatale, and it also 'stars' Reinhard Heidrich, so it makes an excellent pair read with HHhH.
Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare - Giles Milton
The Irregulars - Jennet Conant
The Liberator - Alex Kershaw
I enjoyed all of those especially "The Liberator". "The Liberator" felt like Band of Brothers but it was and Infantry regiment that started its campaign in Sicily well before D-Day. It's written as a narrative and really pulls you in.
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer gives much needed back story of why events took place, but it also shows how much chance and luck (or un-luck) matters.
Everything by Ben Macintyre is a fantastic read, and gives you a lot of understanding into the british grit and creativity during the war years.
A bit of topic, but as it doesnt exsist as a book, the danish movie "Into the darkness" (2020) is a very good film on the choices ordinary people had to take during a chaotic time. Higly recomend it.
I read Shirer’s book over the course of 3 years (about 300 pages when I first started reading it and then the remainder after picking it up again more than 2 years later). It’s a daunting and fascinating account.
Shirer’s book is thick and well researched. I remember he portrays the upper echelon of the Third Reich as social misfits who found a home in the cult-like Nazi party. A good lesson we shouldn’t forget.
I was hoping you’d lean more BBQ than WW2 as you got closer to 40, I have more to offer in BBQ! 😂
But as far as WW2 The Iron Coffins by Herbert A Werner, and if you prefer fiction “Das Boot” (U Boat) and “Run Silent, Run Deep” (US Submarine) which is a fictionalised version of the authors experiences as a sub officer
Just finishing "Life After Life" by Kate Atkinson and it is giving me a close up view of the first responders to bombings in London during WWII. Also loved "The War That Saved My Life" - a middle grade book by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley about a London evacuee who survived and thrived, as alluded to in the title, because of the war.
I loved "Code Name Helene" by Ariel Lawhon. It is historical fiction based closely on a real woman whose French Resistance story is relatively unknown, but riveting, especially in the hands of this author.
Sledge’s With the Old Breed one of my favorites, written as it was first hand. His telling of the Peliliu battle is above par. After the war, Sledge returned home and taught college. He scribbled notes of his memories of the war. Only decades later did he put them together to write the book.
WWII is one of my favorite areas of study. So many options to choose from.
- The Nightingales by Kristin Hannah - women in the French resistance.
- The Requisitions by Samuel Lopez-Barrantes - metafiction by one of our Substack authors.
- The Corps series starting with Semper Fi by W.E.B. Griffin - 10 books covering 1941-Korean war.
- There is a trilogy by Ian Toll covering the war in the Pacific. First book is Pacific Crucible.
- Flyboys by James Bradley.
- The Second War by Winston Churchill (6 volumes)
- Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose.
- The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank.
- Night by Elie Wiesel
- The Desert War: The North African Campaign, 1940–1943 by Alan Moorehead
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
- The Bridge Over the River Kwai by Pierre Boulle
- The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick - Alternate history/speculative fiction
- Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Fallada
I've only read a few of those, thanks so much for the extensive list Matthew!
This blew up quick! I am going to need to come back and make note of everyone else's recommendations. I see lots I haven't read before. Great query!
Just finished the Rick Atkinson trilogy (starts with Army at Dawn); takes you through the US Army’s development as a fighting force from North Africa, through Italy, and then into France and Germany. It’s detailed and unsparing, no jingoism. Sort of a parallel to Bruce Catton’s trilogy about the Civil War.
Also loved Victor Davis Hanson’s book “The Second World Wars”; which is a high level strategy analysis about how the war was won, industrial advantages, etc…
Marvelous, I've added those to my list! Thanks!
I enjoyed the Rick Atkinson trilogy. Ian Toll wrote a similar trilogy for the Pacific theater.
I have read both trilogies and prefer Toll's style
I should have added the Book Thief to my list. One of my favorite books ever.
I joke with my neighbor sometimes that I could literally spend the rest of my life just reading about WWII.
Here are some of my favorites:
Nonfiction:
The Second World War by Anthony Beevor (great overview)
D-Day, Band of Brothers & Citizen Soldiers, all by Stephen Ambrose
Hitler:Downfall, 1939-45 by Vilker Ullrich
The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson
Hitler’s Willing Executioners by Daniel Goldhagen
Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides
Nimitz at War by Craig Symonds
Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl
FDR & Eisenhower in War and Peace, both by Jean Kennedy Smith
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
Fiction:
Anything by Alan Furst (starting with Night Soldiers)
City of Thieves by David Benioff
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
What a great list, I've only read a couple of them. Thanks so much John! I'm actually reading Beevor's Second World War right now and it's great.
Just finished The Splendid and the Vile, a good telling of the story, although it had too many details of family life; Mary Churchill for instance deciding whether to swim with or without a swim cap.
Love Hampton Sides but haven't read his Ghost Soldiers. Putting that on my list! Loved Man's Search for Meaning, and Unbroken. And would add The Book Thief for fiction, although I love it just for the characters themselves rather than a depiction of WWII. Although the depiction of its time is wonderful, too.
I was also going to suggest Beevors WW2, while I read a fair amount WW2 is a gap in my knowledge. His writing style, neutral perspective, and the way he shows key moments through the words of people present at those events makes for a very engaging read. My husband has many more of his books (Stalingrad, Berlin, Arnhem, etc) and can't speak highly enough of him as a historian.
I have three recommendations — two that are literary-leaning but super readable and beautifully done and a series that's consistently awesome.
HHhH by Laurent Binet, translated from French by Sam Taylor: A creative account of the assassination attempt of Reinhard Heidrich in Prague in 1942. (The book’s title HHhH stands for Himmlers Hirn heißt Heydrich, which means ‘Himmler’s brain is called Heydrich.’)
The Curse of Pietro Houdini by Derek B Miller: Set in 1943 Italy. Complex characters who form a found family at a besieged monastery. When the Nazis begin to steal art from the monks, our heroes formulate a plan to steal it back. It starts as an orphan story, morphs into a caper, and has a perfect ending with Big Feelings. My friend and I read it together and texted back and forth throughout with favorite sentences and 'OMG CAN YOU BELIEVE WHAT JUST HAPPENED' kind of messages.
The Bernie Gunther series by Philip Kerr: The series spans the years leading up to WWII, the war, and the post-war period. Throughout, homicide detective Bernie Gunther struggles with his internal conflict: He’s a native Berliner who hates the Nazis, but he’s very fond of breathing — so he ends of working against them from inside. You don't have to read in order because the series jumps around in time. One of my favorites is Prague Fatale, and it also 'stars' Reinhard Heidrich, so it makes an excellent pair read with HHhH.
Those all sound just great — thanks Melissa!
I'd argue that no list is complete without Slaughterhouse-Five on it.
Yesss I'm looking forward to reading it!
My WWII Favorites:
The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
The Flight Girls - Noelle Salazar
The Kitchen Front - Jennifer Ryan
The Boys in the Boat - Daniel James Brown
Unbroken - Laura Hillenbrand
All the Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr
A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus
I've only read a couple of those, many thanks! I'm adding too many to my list. :)
A Place To Hang the Moon was great. Read that with my daughter at age 12.
Of the maybe four or five I have read, I’d say Beneath a Scarlet Sky and Unbroken
I've read Unbroken and Scarlet Sky is high on my list! Thanks Allaine!
Ian Toll’s three book history of the war in the Pacific is terrific.
I've heard good things!
Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare - Giles Milton
The Irregulars - Jennet Conant
The Liberator - Alex Kershaw
I enjoyed all of those especially "The Liberator". "The Liberator" felt like Band of Brothers but it was and Infantry regiment that started its campaign in Sicily well before D-Day. It's written as a narrative and really pulls you in.
Awesome, thanks Darin! I've heard great things about Alex Kershaw in general.
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer gives much needed back story of why events took place, but it also shows how much chance and luck (or un-luck) matters.
Everything by Ben Macintyre is a fantastic read, and gives you a lot of understanding into the british grit and creativity during the war years.
A bit of topic, but as it doesnt exsist as a book, the danish movie "Into the darkness" (2020) is a very good film on the choices ordinary people had to take during a chaotic time. Higly recomend it.
Shirer's book is sitting on my shelf waiting for me! I'll check out the others as well, thanks!
I read Shirer’s book over the course of 3 years (about 300 pages when I first started reading it and then the remainder after picking it up again more than 2 years later). It’s a daunting and fascinating account.
Shirer’s book is thick and well researched. I remember he portrays the upper echelon of the Third Reich as social misfits who found a home in the cult-like Nazi party. A good lesson we shouldn’t forget.
Stalingrad - Anthony Beevor
Stalingrad/Life and Fate - Vassily Grossman
Hitler: Hubris and Hitler: Nemesis - Ian Kershaw
These are all high on my list! Thanks!
I was hoping you’d lean more BBQ than WW2 as you got closer to 40, I have more to offer in BBQ! 😂
But as far as WW2 The Iron Coffins by Herbert A Werner, and if you prefer fiction “Das Boot” (U Boat) and “Run Silent, Run Deep” (US Submarine) which is a fictionalised version of the authors experiences as a sub officer
There’s something about slow, all encompassing fog of war battles than are instantly deadly that are insane
Those sound great, thanks Howie!
And No Birds Sang - Farley Mowat
If This Is Man - Primo Levi
Both are autobiographical accounts from WWII. Mowat is a Canadian soldier and Levi is a Holocaust survivor.
Primo Levi! Heartbreaking and deeply moving! I highly recommend him! ❤️🔥
I'm not familiar with these, thanks fo the recs!
Just finishing "Life After Life" by Kate Atkinson and it is giving me a close up view of the first responders to bombings in London during WWII. Also loved "The War That Saved My Life" - a middle grade book by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley about a London evacuee who survived and thrived, as alluded to in the title, because of the war.
Yes to Kate Atkinsons „Life after Life“! Sooo good! ❤️🔥
Life After Life is on my top 10 list of favorite books - so fascinating and creative. I just cannot get enough of Kate Atkinson!
Definitely moving it up my list after these great comments!
I've not read these, thank you!
I loved "Code Name Helene" by Ariel Lawhon. It is historical fiction based closely on a real woman whose French Resistance story is relatively unknown, but riveting, especially in the hands of this author.
I've heard really good things about it! I'll definitely move it up my list. Thanks Jean!
You are welcome, Jeremy. I just had to put "Helene" forward because I only found it after reading another of Lawhon's historical novels
Agreed! Lawhon does a terrific job creating novels based on real life characters. Code Name Helene was excellent.
Agree with the Rick Atkinson recommendation. Some others include (with apologies for one already listed):
Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
Goodbye Darkness by William Manchester
With the Old Breed by E B Sledge
Franklin and Winston by Jon Meachem
Masters of the Air by Donald Miller
Sledge’s With the Old Breed one of my favorites, written as it was first hand. His telling of the Peliliu battle is above par. After the war, Sledge returned home and taught college. He scribbled notes of his memories of the war. Only decades later did he put them together to write the book.
Oh interesting, I appreciate that context!
I've only read Unbroken from that list — appreciate the recs!