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Suggestions for books set in WW2?

skyblue

New Member
Can't seem to get enough of books set during the second world war, and having read and collected the more popular staples from Frederick Forsyth, Ken Follett, Jack Higgins and Len Deighton, among others, I always find it exciting to discover new authors.

Among the more excellent works I've read over the past weeks are: War of the Rats by David L. Robbins (which I felt was amazingly researched), and 27 by William Diehl. I'll certainly add these authors' books to my stable.

Could anyone suggest any other authors and/or titles I might enjoy reading? I'm more interested in stories set in the European theater of operations rather than in the Pacific. Thanks!
 
I take it you are more interested in action stories than character led pieces with the war only as background? I ask due to my preconceptions about Frederick Forsyth, Ken Follett, Jack Higgins and Len Deighton.
 
Thanks for your quick reply, Stewart. I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "character led pieces", as I've always considered those authors to very good with regards to character development in their novels. If you were referring to a preference for action-packed plots over general reference material and/or personal accounts, then I guess I need to clarify that I love a good novel with the war as a background. All of the books by David L. Robbins set during WW2 (The Last Citadel, End of War, and the previously mentioned War of the Rats, et al.) are the perfect examples of what I'm looking for.
 
There was one Halocaust book I read in junior high that truly haunted me. It was called I Have Lived A Thousand Years. I don't know if that's the kind of WWII book you like, but hardly a week goes by that I don't think of that book.
 
My favorite book: Catch-22. It may not be exactly what you're looking for (It could, with minor changes, rather easily take place during any other war.) but I'm afraid it does meet your criteria.

If you're looking for movies, check out Army of Shadows, about the French resistance. After more than 30 years, it was finally just released in America. I was able to catch a showing in a local art-house just last month. It's absolutely stunning.
 
Check out Robert Wilson's A Small Death in Lisbon and The Company of Strangers, two of the best I've read in the WWII intrigue/spy genre in recent years. Both are in the LeCarre tradition. One of my other faves is The Berkut by Joseph Heywood.
 
Try "The Cruel Sea" by Nicholas Monserrat; historically accurate story about the skipper and crew of a Corvette, sent to escort and protect the convoys of merchant shipping from the North Atlantic down to the Med, against the German U-boats.

It's a classic:)
 
WW2 books

Try 'JULIUS' by Brian Allen Levine - it's a first novel and it spans pre-war London, Nazi Germany and 1960sd Hollywood. I wrote a great review of it online and for some reason the moderator took it down. Hey ho! Mr Moderator, if you're reading this, good morning!
 
This is a children's book really, but I still think it is wonderful - Goodnight Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian. It is more concerned with evacuees and not with the front line or anything, but it is a great read if you fancy something a little different.
 
I'm sure I've mentioned this book elsewhere, but anyway..

"White Coolies" (Betty Jeffrey) is the novel that inspired the film "Paradise Road":

In 1942 a group of sixty-five Australian Army nursing sisters was evacuated from Malaya a few days before the fall of Singpaore. Two days later their ship was bombed and sunk by the Japanese. Of the fifty-three survivors who scrambled ashore, twenty-one were murdered and the remaining thirty-two taken prisoner.

White Coolies is the engrossing record kept by one of the sisters, Betty Jeffrey, during the more than three gruelling years of imprisonment that followed. It is an amazing story of survival amid deprivation and the harshest of conditions. The women’s ingenious and entertaining attempts to make their lot more tolerable, and their comradeship as they suffered so much anguish, display their incredible endurance and strength in the face of adversity.

Whilst it is not set in Europe, it's a tremendous story told very beautifully.
 
Some other suggestions

How about Greg Iles "Spandau Phoenix" and "Black Cross." Also one of my favorites William Diehl's "The Hunt".
 
Color of the Sea

Hey, I'm brand new here. I just read Color of the Sea by John Hamamura. It was a coming of age story about a Japanese boy and it's set during WWII. It has an incredible description of the effects of the A-bomb when it was dropped. I really enjoyed the book. Check it out.
 
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