An engrossing work of historical fiction, this is a great WWII tutorial as well, leaving one with an impression of the times and a good deal of fact. The first half of a military family saga, the male characters of this novel are heroic yet flawed and ultimately likeable. The backdrops of 1930's / 40's Germany, Washington and Pearl Harbor are incredibly transporting. I will say that the women characters are either idealized or portrayed as shallow and I didn't come to care for them. But the story is so epic and the writing so vivid it transcends the weak female characters. All in all, this (along with it's sequel) is probably my favorite book of all time. ( )

WWII ( )

I love this book. I first read it in high school when I had zero interest in WWII. This book piqued my interest in the war and what it must have been like to live through that era. Since then I have read everything I can about it. ( )

1303. The Winds of War a novel by Herman Wouk (24 Nov 1974) This is not great fiction, but it surely is readable. Pug Henry is fictional but he prances thru the pre-Pearl Harbor years meeting up with real people: Stalin, Hitler, Churchill and of course FDR. When the sequel is published I will no doubt read it. [I did read War and Remembrance, the sequel, on 8 Jan 1980, and found the book searing, and while some of the book was annoying one could not easily stop reading and I concluded it was a memorable book and Wouk is a real writer.] ( )

This started out a little slow, but by the time the war started, the character backgrounds were done and the story started moving. I learned a lot about the war in this book. I think Americans tend to not care much about WWII before we got into it, but it was rather interesting to see all the diplomatic stuff that was going on. There were also sections that were basically descriptions of military plans from the point of view of a German officer. That was rather interesting as well.

The thing that really caught me by surprise was how the characters reacted to Pearl Harbor. Maybe it's because they're a military family, but it was all taken in stride ... just another attack. There wasn't even any mention of all the lives lost, and there was barely a mention of Roosevelt's infamous speech.

I'm wondering if there's a sequel, because the book ends with several story lines very much up in the air. ( )