Thank you. I only recently discovered that I love war novels. I read All Quiet on the Western Front (WWI) about six months ago, and then The Things They Carried (Vietnam) a month ago. Both of them knocked me over. I've never read a WWII novel, so it's great to have your list. I loved Ken Folette's Pillars of the Earth, although I haven't read anything else by him. Seeing as he made your list 3 or 4 times, I think I'll start with something by him. Thanks again. ... And you crack me up. "No one wants to see me bend over. I shouldn't have even said that." lol
Great list. I discovered this video after searching YT for WW2 fiction recommendations, and that's exactly what I got. I haven't read too many WW2 novels, but of all those I've read, Jack Higgins' 'The Eagle Has Landed' is my favorite. It presents a lot of interesting moral conflicts. 'The Valhalla Exchange' is also good.
Adding so many to my tbr. Good thing I’m off work after shoulder surgery. Actually I’ve watched so many of your videos during this recovery. Just after surgery I was in so much pain I couldn’t concentrate to read so I kept watching your channel. So thank you for keeping me company. At any rate I have always enjoyed the literature of war, in fact I took Literature of War for my lit class in college. Good class, even if it was a bit Hemingway heavy. Love your channel.
Brother, I can't believe no Alistair MacClean made this list.. C'mon, The Guns of Navarone? Where Eagles Dare? Maybe you haven't read them yet? If not, they are an absolute must!
"The Winds of War" is my favorite book of all time. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time waiting for it to come up. I was just hoping it wouldn't be too low on the list, I didn't even expect it to go #1. Now for some shame: I haven't read "Caine Munity" yet. What am I doing with life?!?!
Thanks for the Recommendations as usual! I did not know you liked WW2 so much! You must go to Wheaton, Illinois at Cantigny Park it has The First Division Museum there, Next year they are doing a big display for the 80th Anniversary of DDAY
Hey Brian, King Rat is set in Singapore. They are being held in Changi, the POW Camp. This is where the author himself spent the war after being captured by the Japanese in 1942.
Thanks for the recommendations. I read some of those and will check the others, too. What's your thought on Alistair MacLean's books. Once he leads the genre I guess and some great movie adaptation as well.
I can corroborate Brian's recommendation/high rating of Wouk's The Winds of War & War and Remembrance. First read them 40 years ago like one long 2421-page story, reread them again a decade later. Thanks for the reminder, BLD, it's time to bring 'em into the 21st century and is as good an excuse to DNF my reread of Harvest Home (Thomas Tryon) as any.
So many great books, I have read so many of them. Winds of War and War and Remembrance, the pinnacle of WWII historical fiction. I remember also watching the miniseries with Robert Mitchum as Pug Henry. McCammon loved Wolf's Hour. Never read Greg Iles, have to check him out. Thanks.
Great list. I have read quite a few. Funny story. I wanted to read Mutiny on the Bounty and ordered The Caine Mutiny. Best mistake I ever made. To The White Sea by James Dickey about a shot down pilot in Japan is amazing.
A bunch here I’ve not read yet. Can’t disagree about Wouk, and I was glad to see Cryptonomicon and Doerr. Some I would have included: Night by Elie Wiesel, Catch-22 by Heller, Slaughterhouse Five by Vonnegut, Gravity’s Rainbow by Pynchon, Empire of the Sun by Ballard, and almost any of Alan Furst’s books, but maybe Red Gold.
Thank you! Being a lit major, I always think of Catch-22 and Slaughterhouse Five as WWII novels; they just aren't historical novels per se. By the time we got to the top 10, I realized this was mostly from a historical novel angle. Anne Frank is mentioned, novels that make you cry are foreshadowed, but her Diary didn't make the cut. It's still an amazing list. Damn I have a lot of reading to do now! haha.
Thanks for your recommendations - it seems to me I'll soon be reading some Ken Follett. 🙂 Anyway, check out Ostland by David Thomas - chilling novel about young police detective in Berlin, who slowly becomes mass murderer in Eastern front.
Ive never read any WWII books as i mostly read fantasy and scifi but your videos intrigued me to read now, which one would you suggest as first WWII book? Shall i pick number one?
I used to sew Winston Churchills bonnets for when he was throwing gin at the bishop of Tadcaster. After a while though, his shoes turned blue and a spaniel ate his wig.
Have you ever read The Apocalypse Watch by Ludlum? It’s a later book and generally regarded as not one of his best, but I still absolutely love that book. It was my first Ludlum, and I read it while taking an Amtrak train across the US in January, so it’s quite possible that some of why I love it so much is because I have such great memories of actually reading it, but I still think it’s a solid book, if a bit ridiculous, about a possible Fourth Reich situation
I really like James Jones' "The Thin Red Line," which is much better than the movie. Also, "Piece of Cake," by Derek Robinson, is a terrific book about the RAF in the first year of the war.
Durfee reads all the books. I love the Ice Station Zebra movie. Maybe the book is good. I guess that's cold war not ww2. Do you play board games? Is the Eye of the Needle book better than the movie? All the light we cannot see just got adapted by netflix, but it doesn't get that many tomatoes.
I thought for a moment that Brian had forgotten the great Len Deighton but after checking I realized most of his work was set during the cold war. However I do see that The Eagle Has Landed by the great Jack Higgins was sadly left off
I understand you're a good person Brian and Forgetting Moon is excellent, but it's time now for western people to understand that the Soviet Union, also known as the Russian people, who did the majority of the work in defeating Germany for 4 years before America entered a war that was now determined. And this is not to say the Bolsheviks were good (they weren't) and they were also an outside force initially, another thing not widely understood. Nevertheless, It's been a century of lies and fantasy entertainment such as Inglourious Basterds (tiny squads defeating Hitler in France, yea right) that has warped history and it needs to come to an end. People cannot have informed opinions and decisions without critical thinking and real understanding of history.
