Historical Fictionistas discussion

Anyone have some great recommendations for World War I and II novels? I have been reading a lot about the Tudors and wanted to switch it up a bit.

Thanks!

I moved this to the Recommendations folder.

Regarding your question, here are some that I have enjoyed:

WWI: Losing Julia - this is a fantastic book alternating between WWI and the 80s I believe. I loved it. :)

WWII: Schindler's List
The Book Thief
The Welsh Girl
The Postmistress
Heidegger's Glasses
Between Shades of Gray
And Skeletons at the Feast which I haven't read yet but own and have heard fantastic stuff about. :)

Once An Eagle - fantastic book! And it covers BOTH wars: the hero is a teenage enlistee in WWI, stays in the army after getting a battlefield promotion, and by the time WWII rolls around he's a two-star general in his forties. Superb read.

The Book Thief is an excellent book, really enjoyed it.

WWII
Those Who Save Us
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
The Bronze Horseman
City of Thieves
Sarah's Key
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
The Winds of War
War and Remembrance
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
The Reader
Night
The Book Thief

WWI
One of Ours

WWI:
Fall of Giants
The Guns of August
A Farewell to Arms


WWII:
Every Man Dies Alone
Sarah's Key
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
The Glass Room
The Nazi Officer's Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust
A Separate Peace
A Vintage Affair: A Novel
All But My Life: A Memoir
Americans in Paris: Life and Death Under Nazi Occupation 1940-44
Consequences
The Diplomat's Wife
The English Patient
Jacob's Courage: A Holocaust Love Story
The Madonnas of Leningrad
The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II
The Remains of the Day
Schindler's List



As you can tell I read more WWII than I

Kat (LvnEvryMin) wrote: "As you can tell I read more WWII than I "

So far everyone does, Kat! LOL

(Thanks for correcting the thread, Becky!)

Thank you all for your suggestions! I'm really excited to work my way through your lists and start reading!

Not a problem, Karyn. :)

Here is a link that I come across that has a HUGE list of books on WWII....... it also has one for books regarding Vietnam.

http://warthroughthegenerations.wordp...

The Book Thief and Fall of Giants are both amazing.

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption is a great non-fiction that reads like a novel. Incredible story.

Anne Perry wrote a great series on WWI No Graves As Yet being the first of five.

I have read so many wonderful book on this theme.

The Invisible Bridge
Anya

are two for starters. I cannot immagine your not liking them.

WORLD WAR I:
The Roses of No Man's Land, by Lyn MacDonald
Into the Breach: American Women Overseas in World War I, by Dorothy and Carl J. Schneider
Paris 1919, Six Months that Changed the World, by Margaret MacMillan
WORLD WAR II:
The Murrow Boys: Pioneers on the Front Lines of Broadcast Journalism, by Stanley Cloud & Lynne Olson
Troublesome Young Men: The Rebels who Brought Churchill to Power and Helped Save England, by Lynne Olson
All This Hell: US Nurses Imprisoned by Japanese, by Evelyn M. Monahan
We Band of Angels: The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Bataan by the Japanese, by Eliz. M. Norman
Spitfire Women of World War II, by Giles Whittell
Albanian Escape: The True Story of U.S. Army Nurses Behind Enemy Lines, by Agnes Jensen Mangerich
The Railway Man: A POW's Searing Account of War, Brutality and Forgiveness, by Eric Lomax
What a Way to Spend a War, Navy Nurse POWs in the Philippines, by Dorothy Still Danner

@Chrissie-- I haven't heard the book Anyamentioned in a very long time, and I think I read it too. I believe I am going to have to check into it again. What are you thoughts on The Invisible Bridge? I've seen this book several times at Barnes & Noble.

I forgot some:
The Brigade: An Epic Story of Vengeance, Salvation, and WWII, by Howard Blum
Give Us This Day, by Sidney Steward (the Bataan Death March)
VIETNAM:
Women at War: The Story of Fifty Military Nurses Who Served in Vietnam, by Elizabeth Norman

Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission is non-fiction that is so thrilling it reads like fiction. A dual story of the American prisoners being slowly starved in a Japanese prison camp in WWII, and the band of Army rangers coming to rescue them.

My favorite subject by far and I've read a bunch of the WWII books mentioned here as well as a few WWI. A couple additions for WWI: by a great author/historian Thomas Fleming. He has some wonderful work that has not been mentioned here. Fleming also did a great WWII book, Time and Tide which had a similar story to the USS Indianapolis.

But by far me most favorite book of all is which includes both the world wars and has some great themes that should not be overlooked.

The 2 books by Wouk, Winds of War and War & Remembrance are also on my top 5 list of books. You get more from his books on the history of WWII than you see elsewhere. Many different sides of the story. I think they are the best. Most recently I read The Book Thief and was enchanted but it hasn't made my list of top 20.

Laura K, I was worried about all the hype concerning the Invisible Brideg. This was a silly worry. I absolutely loved it. I will give you my review. It is spoiler free and you will get excerpts so you can judge if you like the prose style.

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...


Also here is my Anya review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I gave both 5 stars. Neither reviews have spoilers.

I didn't mention memoirs or biographies b/c I figured you preferred historical fiction...... If you want those too let me know.

Karyn wrote: "Anyone have some great recommendations for World War I and II novels? I have been reading a lot about the Tudors and wanted to switch it up a bit.

Thanks!"

Karen: Have you read Fallen Skies by Phillipa Gregory? I'm reading it now and liking it. It's set during WWI and so is unlike her Tudor novels. Not a royal in it.

Also you could try some WWII books written by UK authors.
Annie Grovesthe Grafton Girls
Anne BennettTo Have and To Hold
Annie MurrayChocolate Girls

Karyn wrote: "Anyone have some great recommendations for World War I and II novels? I have been reading a lot about the Tudors and wanted to switch it up a bit.

Thanks!"

Hello Karyn,

The following are all WWII:

Of course, there are
Herman Wouk's Winds of Warand War and Remembrance,
which are really enjoyable page turners.

Also, the classic
From Here to Eternity by James Jones, set in Hawaii in the days before Pearl Harbor. He also wrote a much grittier sequel, The Thin Red Line, about the fighting in the Pacific.

Two of my favorites about wartime from the English perspective are The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat, which takes place mostly aboard a destroyer on convoy duty in the Atlantic, and Goodbye Mickey Mouse by Len Deighton, a love story involving an RAF pilot.

Hope these suggestions are helpful. I don't know any WWI historical fiction, other than Remarque Erich Maria's All Quiet on the Western Front, which is awfully grim.

Bob

A mystery series set between the wars but very much referencing both is Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series. First one is called Maisie Dobbs. Her most recent one is A Lesson in Secrets which brings the WWII shadow front and center, but I'd start with the first which deals with the many social and emotional effects of the Great War on Britain. Maisie DobbsA Lesson in Secrets

Thanks for letting us know about those books, Judith. They look good.

So many great books on here, and I can't believe how many I still haven't read. Richard Zimler was mentioned above. I just finished his novel The Warsaw Anagrams, set inside the Warsaw Ghetto, about an elderly Jew who pursues the murderer of his young nephew. Not an easy task under the dire circumstances. Pretty grim stuff, but it's also compelling.

Some that are overlooked but fantastic include: William Wharton's A Midnight Clear, set in the Battle of the Bulge; and John Lawton's mystery series set in wartime London.

I could go on and on. I'll stop (for now).

Steve
The Losing Role

Steve wrote: "So many great books on here, and I can't believe how many I still haven't read. Richard Zimler was mentioned above. I just finished his novel The Warsaw Anagrams,"

This sounds really interesting! Thanks for mentioning it!

Kat (LvnEvryMin) wrote: "Steve wrote: "So many great books on here, and I can't believe how many I still haven't read. Richard Zimler was mentioned above. I just finished his novel The Warsaw Anagrams," ..."

You're welcome, Kat. I definitely recommend it. I also reviewed it at over at Noir Journal if you're interested.

And good job mentioning the War Through the Generations list of books. You beat me to it! Lots of good options on there.

Steve
The Losing Role

Great review Steve. I will definitely have to look for it. I also added The Losing Role to my list. I love all things WWII.

Kat (LvnEvryMin) wrote: "Great review Steve. I will definitely have to look for it. I also added The Losing Role to my list. I love all things WWII."

Thanks, Kat! I appreciate that. Great to see also that you added The Losing Role. I hope you enjoy it -- I try to give voice to one of the lesser known themes of the war.

Another book set in Leningrad is The Siege: A Novel by Helen Dunmore, and then there is a follow up called The Betrayal which is set in Soviet Russia in the early 1950s.

I really enjoyed Night of Flames: A Novel of World War II by Douglas W Jacobson, and there is a follow up to that coming out later this year as well.

Suite Française was amazing, not so much for the story itself, but for the background story on what happened to the author herself.

Michael Dobbs wrote a series of four books focusing on the various events that Winston Churchill was involved in during WWII - Starts with Winston's War (from memory)

Atonement by Ian McEwen.



Sebastian Faulks has a loose trilogy which is set in WWI - Charlotte Gray, Birdsong and I think the last one was Girl at Lion D'Or.

I am sure there are more.

I couldn't get the book in time to discuss it with a book group I belong to, but everyone who read it seemed to like The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy. Another book I have on my TBR shelf that people seem to like is Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas.

For something completely unlike most WW2 fiction, you could try Catch-22 by Joseph Heller or Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut.

I enjoyed La's Orchestra Saves the World set in British homefront of WWII. It is similar in tone to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

Just remember War on the Margins: A Novel by Libby Cone

There are so many good books recommended, I am anxious to read them. I am presently reading The Roses of No Man's Land, WWI, featuring the nursing sisters. Of course, the war plays a big part!

And another one - Briar Rose by Jane Yolen - it's a fairy tale retelling using the setting of WWII.

The Winds of War

Three Women of Liverpool, by Helen Forrester (WWII)

Speaking of women, I just remembered Restless by William Boyd. An Russian/English woman spies for Britain during WWII, mostly in the US. Good story and writing -- the male author does a great job of putting himself in the POV of a woman with secrets. It would make a great movie, but wouldn't all of historical novels?

There is a new book out called The Beauty Chorus by Kate Lord Brown which is about female pilots. Sounds really good.

I recently finished Portrait of a Turkish Family, and I very highly recommend it. There are so many gripping books about WW2, well here is one about a Turkish family and how some of them survived WW1. The prose style is fabulous, at least for my tastes. Here is a link to my GR review. Yup, spoiler- free.

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I do recommend that you go to Amazon and look inside the book to see if YOU like the author's writing style. Me, I loved it.

Here's a good one-- The Brass Dolphin-- about an English family that moves to Malta just before the war.

I'd like to second the suggestion of Tuchmann's GUNS OF AUGUST.

It's not fiction, but it reads like a novel. There's amazing tension/suspense -- one story follows a German destroyer trying to sneak through the British-dominated Mediterranean to get to Turkey and make an alliance, and even though you know the result it's still a nailbiter. And there are some lovely emotional moments, such as the cabdrivers of Paris ferrying the French Army reserves, 4 or 5 men at a time, to the Front to help stop the German advance - that scene makes my eyes tear up.

I love WW II, fiction and non-fiction. Here are some I have read over the past few years:

*Those Who Save Us (I met author Jenna Blum last year, a huge thrill)

*The Invisible Bridge

*Suite Francaise

*The Book Thief

*City of Thieves

*The Kommandant's Mistress

*Blood and Banquets, Berlin Social Diary

*Berlin Diaries 1940-1945

*Magda Goebbels

*Every Man Dies Alone

*Sarah's Key

*Skeletons at the Feast

*Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

*The Glass Room

*The Nazi Officer's Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust

*All But My Life: A Memoir

*In the Garden of Beasts

*Night

*The Complete Maus

*The Blindness of the Heart

*The Mascot

*The Girl in the Red Coat

*The Zookeeper's Wife

*The Bronze Horseman (hated this one, except for the Russian history...way too much romance)

*The Guernsey Potato Peel and Literary Society

*The Kindly Ones

*Edith's Story: The True Story of a Young Girl's Courage and Survival During WW II

Edited to add:

*Frauen: German Women Recall the Third Reich

*A Woman in Berlin: 8 Weeks in a Conquered City

*My Enemy's Cradle

*Bending Toward the Sun: A Mother and Daughter Memoir

*Five Chimneys: The Story of Auschwitz

*He Was My Chief: The Memoirs of Adolph Hitler's Secretary

*The Secret Holocaust Diaries: The Untold Stories of Nonna Bannister

Denise, I, too, love WWII, mostly nonfiction. I have read 13 of your books. Started Skeletons at the Feast but for some reason couldn't get into it at all. Also, for some unknown reason I am not too interested in Sarah's Key but the rest look interesting. I will also list some you don't have but it will have to be tomorrow or the next day - lots going on. Nice to meet you!

Denise, you have put together a great list! I have read the majority but will now go check out the others. thanks. We obviously like similar books, although some of them were NOT my favorites. I hated the modern thread of Sarah's Key! Neither did I like Every Man Dies Alone. I am kind of picky..... You even have The Mascot! I want to read Those Who Save Us but it is not available on Kindle for European reader. Bad news!

I added The Girl in the Red Coat! Thanks. I din't know about that one.

Denise wrote: "I love WW II, fiction and non-fiction. Here are some I have read over the past few years:

*Those Who Save Us (I met author Jenna Blum last year, a huge thrill)

*The Invisible Bridge

*Suite Fran..."

Denise, I have read several of the books you listed and felt exactly the same way about The Bronze Horseman (ugh). I have In Garden of Beasts on my pile, how was it? I have sent you a friend request.

Linda, 'In the Garden of Beasts' was very good. Larson's research is so perfect down to every detail. I especially loved that Bella Fromm (author of 'Blood and Banquets, Berlin Social Diary) appears in the book several times. Her diary fascinated me. If you haven't read it, you might enjoy it.

Maude and Chrissie, I didn't think I'd enjoy 'Sarah's Key,' but I ended up liking it because I hadn't known a lot about the round-up of 1942. I would actually like to read more about it. I recommended 'Sarah's Key' to my daughter's former French teacher. She enjoyed the book and is so annoyed because she has been to France numerous times but never visited any of the historical sites! I liked 'Skeletons at the Feast' because for some odd reason, I am fascinated by stories about those who fled the Russians at the end of the war. 'A Woman in Berlin' by Anonymous is one of my favorite memoirs; I liked the movie, too (even tho' it was VERY dark). And Gerda Weissmann Klein is my hero; what a story!

Today I bought 'Purge' by Sofi Oksanen. I am debating about buying Fault Lines by Nancy Huston. I know I've left some books off of my list! I have kind of an unfair advantage in that I'm a bookseller and see the new stuff as it comes in. :)

Chrissie wrote: "Denise, you have put together a great list! I have read the majority but will now go check out the others. thanks. We obviously like similar books, although some of them were NOT my favorites. I ha..."

I edited the list to add a few more... :0

Denise, thanks for telling me. We dfinitely like similar books. Memoirs are great, aren't they?!

My husband is currently reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany. this tome is the size of a double bible with teeny print. He is reading it and telling me what he reads. Gosh, Hitler's youth is amazing. He wouldn't take any job that could label him as being part of the proletariat. He didn't finish high school. Him, an artist? He wasn't accepted. This is all about 1910. If you have eagle eyes, it is surely worth reading!