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Books about World War II

Based on tag: WWII

Members: 18 participating members (show all)

All members' list: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11Sort: Score | Title | Author | Date
1
Catch-22
by Joseph Heller
36,578 members, 488 reviews
4.1 stars (4.1 stars)

Lists: gypsysmom (1), ahef1963 (1), Bretzky1 (1), aulsmith (1), thecoroner (14), jain (17)

Score: 20.04

2
The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak
38,982 members, 2,029 reviews
4.36 stars (4.36 stars)

Lists: KimarieBee (1), gypsysmom (2), starfishian (2), dara85 (3), jain (5), ahef1963 (8)

Score: 18.82

3
The Diary of a Young Girl
by Anne Frank
25,432 members, 474 reviews
4.07 stars (4.07 stars)

Lists: gypsysmom (3), ahef1963 (7), starfishian (10), thecoroner (10), merrystar (13), aulsmith (27)

Score: 13.86

4
Night
by Elie Wiesel
24,036 members, 532 reviews
4.28 stars (4.28 stars)

Lists: ahef1963 (3), Bretzky1 (3), Dilara86 (5), jain (6)

Score: 11.31

5
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
by Michael Chabon
17,707 members, 386 reviews
4.21 stars (4.21 stars)

Lists: aulsmith (3), jain (4), ahef1963 (4), gypsysmom (8)

Score: 11.08

Explanations:

aulsmith (3): Also escaping the Holocaust

6
84, Charing Cross Road
by Helene Hanff
5,190 members, 305 reviews
4.24 stars (4.24 stars)

Lists: rayski (1), ahef1963 (11), gypsysmom (18), merrystar

Score: 10.52

7
Suite Française
by Irène Némirovsky
9,254 members, 328 reviews
3.97 stars (3.97 stars)

Lists: starfishian (3), Dilara86 (4), gypsysmom (9), thecoroner (12)

Score: 10.33

8
The Night Watch
by Sarah Waters
4,146 members, 145 reviews
3.68 stars (3.68 stars)

Lists: kara.shamy (3), gypsysmom (4), starfishian (6), aulsmith (24)

Score: 10.23

Explanations:

aulsmith (24): The London blitz

9
Captain Corelli's Mandolin
by Louis De Bernières
7,452 members, 144 reviews
3.94 stars (3.94 stars)

Lists: gypsysmom (5), KimarieBee (5), starfishian (11), thecoroner (28)

Score: 9.29

10
Life After Life
by Kate Atkinson
7,326 members, 554 reviews
3.97 stars (3.97 stars)

Lists: kara.shamy (2), starfishian (5), gypsysmom (6)

Score: 8.59

11
Schindler's List
by Thomas Keneally
7,158 members, 86 reviews
4.17 stars (4.17 stars)

Lists: suitable1 (1), gypsysmom (7), thecoroner (20)

Score: 8.35

13
The Narrow Road to the Deep North
by Richard Flanagan
2,689 members, 138 reviews
4.03 stars (4.03 stars)

Lists: rayski (2), kara.shamy (6), gypsysmom (15)

Score: 7.95

14
The Hiding Place
by Corrie Ten Boom
8,205 members, 127 reviews
4.4 stars (4.4 stars)

Lists: dara85 (4), ahef1963 (6), aulsmith (12)

Score: 7.53

Explanations:

aulsmith (12): Righteous gentiles in The Netherlands

15
Slaughterhouse-Five
by Kurt Vonnegut
40,036 members, 638 reviews
4.11 stars (4.11 stars)

Lists: ahef1963 (2), aulsmith (2), gypsysmom (10)

Thumbs down: Bretzky1

Score: 6.98

16
Atonement
by Ian McEwan
24,446 members, 595 reviews
3.93 stars (3.93 stars)

Lists: starfishian (7), gypsysmom (11), thecoroner (13)

Score: 6.76

17
Code Name Verity
by Elizabeth Wein
4,201 members, 355 reviews
4.3 stars (4.3 stars)

Lists: jain (1), inge87 (5)

Score: 6.68

18
Briar Rose
by Jane Yolen
2,649 members, 104 reviews
3.98 stars (3.98 stars)

Lists: jain (16), aulsmith (36), merrystar

Score: 6.01

Explanations:

aulsmith (36): The holocaust

19
The Second World War {complete}
by Winston S. Churchill
1,308 members, 7 reviews
4.29 stars (4.29 stars)

Lists: thecoroner (4), aulsmith (4)

Score: 5.66

20
The Tin Drum
by Günter Grass
6,973 members, 88 reviews
3.97 stars (3.97 stars)

Lists: thecoroner (2), gypsysmom (12)

Score: 5.51

21
King Rat
by James Clavell
2,566 members, 40 reviews
3.99 stars (3.99 stars)

Lists: KimarieBee (3), gypsysmom (13)

Score: 5.15

22
Anne Frank Remembered
by Miep Gies
1,303 members, 29 reviews
4.27 stars (4.27 stars)

Lists: dara85 (5), kara.shamy (7)

Score: 5.13

23
All the Light We Cannot See
by Anthony Doerr
14,317 members, 761 reviews
4.29 stars (4.29 stars)

Lists: KimarieBee (4), gypsysmom (14)

Score: 4.9

24
Number the Stars
by Lois Lowry
15,593 members, 619 reviews
4.15 stars (4.15 stars)

Lists: ahef1963 (5), inge87 (11)

Score: 4.87

25
The English Patient
by Michael Ondaatje
10,691 members, 162 reviews
3.9 stars (3.9 stars)

Lists: jain (8), merrystar

Score: 4.76

26
The Chosen
by Chaim Potok
6,231 members, 90 reviews
4.15 stars (4.15 stars)

Lists: jain (7), ahef1963 (10)

Score: 4.71

27
Those Who Save Us
by Jenna Blum
2,828 members, 156 reviews
4.03 stars (4.03 stars)

Lists: dara85 (6), starfishian (20)

Score: 4.45

28
Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
by Art Spiegelman
9,260 members, 226 reviews
4.43 stars (4.43 stars)

Lists: jain (9), inge87 (13)

Score: 4.42

29
Sophie's Choice
by William Styron
5,504 members, 81 reviews
4.13 stars (4.13 stars)

Lists: starfishian (8), thecoroner (17)

Score: 4.35

30
Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began
by Art Spiegelman
6,562 members, 129 reviews
4.48 stars (4.48 stars)

Lists: jain (10), inge87 (14)

Score: 4.32

31
Outlander
by Diana Gabaldon
20,817 members, 925 reviews
4.19 stars (4.19 stars)

Lists: kara.shamy (9), gypsysmom (16)

Score: 4.31

32
The Naked and the Dead
by Norman Mailer
3,795 members, 41 reviews
3.91 stars (3.91 stars)

Lists: thecoroner (6), aulsmith (28)

Score: 4.3

Explanations:

aulsmith (28): American soldiers in the Pacific theater. I personally found reading this intolerable, but YMMV

33
The Nightingale
by Kristin Hannah
7,200 members, 397 reviews
4.33 stars (4.33 stars)

Lists: dara85 (9), gypsysmom (17)

Score: 4.28

34
The War That Saved My Life
by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
2,299 members, 332 reviews
4.58 stars (4.58 stars)

Lists: jain (14), merrystar (15)

Score: 4.1

35
The Zookeeper's Wife
by Diane Ackerman
4,151 members, 191 reviews
3.53 stars (3.53 stars)

Lists: starfishian (13), gypsysmom (19)

Score: 4.02

36
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
by Eleanor Coerr
3,959 members, 92 reviews
3.92 stars (3.92 stars)

Lists: inge87 (10), aulsmith (26)

Score: 4.02

Explanations:

aulsmith (26): Effects of Hiroshima atomic bombing

37
This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen
by Tadeusz Borowski
1,399 members, 32 reviews
4.19 stars (4.19 stars)

Lists: starfishian (1)

Score: 4

38
History
by Elsa Morante
1,228 members, 25 reviews
4.18 stars (4.18 stars)

Lists: thecoroner (1)

Score: 4

39
Crete: The Battle and the Resistance
by Antony Beevor
464 members, 11 reviews
3.59 stars (3.59 stars)

Lists: wolfepack (1)

Score: 4

40
Strange Defeat: A Statement of Evidence Written in 1940
by Marc Bloch
414 members, 4 reviews
3.82 stars (3.82 stars)

Lists: Dilara86 (1)

Score: 4

41
Erzähl es niemandem!: Die Liebesgeschichte meiner Eltern
by Lillian Crott Berthung
30 members, 3 reviews
3.88 stars (3.88 stars)

Lists: inge87 (1)

Score: 4

42
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
by John Boyne
12,785 members, 819 reviews
3.97 stars (3.97 stars)

Lists: dara85 (12), gypsysmom (25)

Score: 3.94

43
Five Quarters of the Orange
by Joanne Harris
3,730 members, 79 reviews
3.75 stars (3.75 stars)

Lists: starfishian (16), gypsysmom (20)

Score: 3.89

44
Hiroshima
by John Hersey
1,941 members, 33 reviews
4.14 stars (4.14 stars)

Lists: aulsmith (14), thecoroner (25)

Score: 3.86

Explanations:

aulsmith (14): The immediate aftermath of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima

45
The Lost Garden
by Helen Humphreys
523 members, 35 reviews
3.86 stars (3.86 stars)

Lists: starfishian (17), gypsysmom (21)

Score: 3.84

46
Lilac Girls
by Martha Hall Kelly
2,894 members, 170 reviews
4.04 stars (4.04 stars)

Lists: dara85 (13), gypsysmom (34)

Score: 3.76

47
The Tattooist of Auschwitz
by Heather Morris
3,807 members, 184 reviews
3.92 stars (3.92 stars)

Lists: dara85 (14), gypsysmom (39)

Score: 3.67

48
The Distant Hours
by Kate Morton
3,326 members, 195 reviews
3.82 stars (3.82 stars)

Lists: starfishian (19), gypsysmom (28)

Score: 3.66

49
The Guns of Navarone
by Alistair MacLean
1,596 members, 35 reviews
3.84 stars (3.84 stars)

Lists: thecoroner (24), aulsmith (30)

Score: 3.52

Explanations:

aulsmith (30): Fictional account of a US military mission to disable a Nazi gun emplacement in Greece.

50
Obasan
by Joy Kogawa
1,300 members, 24 reviews
3.75 stars (3.75 stars)

Lists: gypsysmom (27), aulsmith (33)

Score: 3.42

Explanations:

aulsmith (33): Canadian interment camps for the Japanese

51
Every Man Dies Alone
by Hans Fallada
3,261 members, 154 reviews
4.23 stars (4.23 stars)

Lists: Dilara86 (2)

Score: 3.36

52
The Winds of War
by Herman Wouk
2,993 members, 55 reviews
4.22 stars (4.22 stars)

Lists: KimarieBee (2)

Score: 3.36

53
The Longest Day: The Classic Epic of D-Day
by Cornelius Ryan
2,136 members, 42 reviews
4.14 stars (4.14 stars)

Lists: suitable1 (2)

Score: 3.36

54
The Baker's Daughter
by Sarah McCoy
607 members, 45 reviews
3.86 stars (3.86 stars)

Lists: dara85 (2)

Score: 3.36

55
In My Brother's Shadow: A Life and Death in the SS
by Uwe Timm
293 members, 6 reviews
3.84 stars (3.84 stars)

Lists: inge87 (2)

Score: 3.36

56
A World Destroyed: Hiroshima and Its Legacies
by Martin J. Sherwin
121 members, 0 reviews
4 stars (4 stars)

Lists: Bretzky1 (2)

Score: 3.36

57
Farthing
by Jo Walton
1,488 members, 108 reviews
3.91 stars (3.91 stars)

Lists: jain (2), gypsysmom (31)

Thumbs down: aulsmith

Score: 3.06

Explanations:

aulsmith (0): Takes place after an alternate wwii

58
A Bridge Too Far
by Cornelius Ryan
1,864 members, 24 reviews
4.15 stars (4.15 stars)

Lists: suitable1 (3)

Score: 3.04

59
Group Portrait With Lady
by Heinrich Böll
1,223 members, 17 reviews
3.9 stars (3.9 stars)

Lists: thecoroner (3)

Score: 3.04

61
Coming out under fire
by Allan Bérubé
411 members, 8 reviews
4.21 stars (4.21 stars)

Lists: jain (3)

Score: 3.04

62
Abigail
by Magda Szabó
265 members, 16 reviews
4.33 stars (4.33 stars)

Lists: Dilara86 (3)

Score: 3.04

63
A Thread of Grace
by Mary Doria Russell
2,003 members, 84 reviews
4 stars (4 stars)

Lists: starfishian (4)

Score: 2.83

64
The Third Reich at War
by Richard J. Evans
1,113 members, 22 reviews
4.36 stars (4.36 stars)

Lists: Bretzky1 (4)

Score: 2.83

65
Rose Under Fire
by Elizabeth Wein
1,086 members, 94 reviews
4.22 stars (4.22 stars)

Lists: kara.shamy (4)

Score: 2.83

66
Church of Spies: The Pope's Secret War against Hitler
by Mark Riebling
163 members, 3 reviews
4.58 stars (4.58 stars)

Lists: inge87 (4)

Score: 2.83

68
History of the Second World War
by B. H. Liddell Hart
770 members, 5 reviews
3.9 stars (3.9 stars)

Lists: aulsmith (5)

Score: 2.68

69
Memoirs of the Second World War
by Winston S. Churchill
707 members, 9 reviews
4.22 stars (4.22 stars)

Lists: Bretzky1 (5)

Score: 2.68

70
Johnny the Partisan
by Beppe Fenoglio
307 members, 4 reviews
3.94 stars (3.94 stars)

Lists: thecoroner (5)

Score: 2.68

71
The Moon Is Down
by John Steinbeck
3,001 members, 98 reviews
3.84 stars (3.84 stars)

Lists: aulsmith (6)

Score: 2.56

Explanations:

aulsmith (6): Nazi occupation of an unidentified town in western Europe.

72
The Seventh Cross
by Anna Seghers
703 members, 12 reviews
4.11 stars (4.11 stars)

Lists: Dilara86 (6)

Score: 2.56

73
Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom
by Conrad Black
439 members, 4 reviews
4.28 stars (4.28 stars)

Lists: Bretzky1 (6)

Score: 2.56

74
The Oaken Heart
by Margery Allingham
55 members, 1 review
3.89 stars (3.89 stars)

Lists: inge87 (6)

Score: 2.56

Explanations:

inge87 (6): Memoir of life on the British homefront

75
Between Shades of Gray
by Ruta Sepetys
4,126 members, 332 reviews
4.26 stars (4.26 stars)

Lists: dara85 (7)

Score: 2.46

76
Life and Fate
by Vasily Grossman
2,888 members, 78 reviews
4.36 stars (4.36 stars)

Lists: thecoroner (7)

Score: 2.46

77
Crabwalk
by Günter Grass
1,078 members, 22 reviews
3.55 stars (3.55 stars)

Lists: inge87 (7)

Score: 2.46

78
The Last 100 Days: The Tumultuous and Controversial Story of the Final Days of World War II in Europe
by John Toland
519 members, 6 reviews
3.9 stars (3.9 stars)

Lists: aulsmith (7)

Score: 2.46

Explanations:

aulsmith (7): Remarkable book on the events leading up to VE day. I especially was fascinated by the goings on in Hitler's bunker.

79
None of Us Will Return
by Charlotte Delbo
75 members, 1 review
4.08 stars (4.08 stars)

Lists: Dilara86 (7)

Score: 2.46

80
The Origins of Major War (Cornell Studies in Security Affairs)
by Dale C. Copeland
36 members, 1 review
3.5 stars (3.5 stars)

Lists: Bretzky1 (7)

Score: 2.46

81
Gravity's Rainbow
by Thomas Pynchon
9,811 members, 130 reviews
4.07 stars (4.07 stars)

Lists: thecoroner (8)

Score: 2.38

82
The End of the Affair
by Graham Greene
5,950 members, 159 reviews
3.96 stars (3.96 stars)

Lists: merrystar

Score: 2.38

84
The Final Solution. A Story of Detection
by Michael Chabon
3,529 members, 151 reviews
3.39 stars (3.39 stars)

Lists: aulsmith (8)

Score: 2.38

85
A Town Like Alice
by Nevil Shute
3,383 members, 132 reviews
4.03 stars (4.03 stars)

Lists: merrystar

Score: 2.38

86
The Shell Seekers
by Rosamunde Pilcher
3,336 members, 72 reviews
4.01 stars (4.01 stars)

Lists: merrystar

Score: 2.38

88
Beneath a Scarlet Sky
by Mark Sullivan
1,887 members, 101 reviews
4.15 stars (4.15 stars)

Lists: dara85 (8)

Score: 2.38

89
Coming Home
by Rosamunde Pilcher
1,728 members, 32 reviews
4.06 stars (4.06 stars)

Lists: merrystar

Score: 2.38

90
The Rose Code
by Kate Quinn
1,022 members, 57 reviews
4.31 stars (4.31 stars)

Lists: merrystar

Score: 2.38

91
Dominion
by C. J. Sansom
936 members, 54 reviews
3.64 stars (3.64 stars)

Lists: kara.shamy (8)

Score: 2.38

92
A Song for Summer
by Eva Ibbotson
849 members, 21 reviews
3.73 stars (3.73 stars)

Lists: merrystar

Score: 2.38

93
Princess Elizabeth's Spy
by Susan Elia MacNeal
696 members, 78 reviews
3.75 stars (3.75 stars)

Lists: merrystar

Score: 2.38

94
Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland
by Jan T. Gross
516 members, 20 reviews
3.92 stars (3.92 stars)

Lists: inge87 (8)

Score: 2.38

95
Final Solutions: Mass Killing and Genocide in the 20th Century
by Benjamin A. Valentino
38 members, 0 reviews
3.88 stars (3.88 stars)

Lists: Bretzky1 (8)

Score: 2.38

97
Snow Falling on Cedars
by David Guterson
11,981 members, 176 reviews
3.76 stars (3.76 stars)

Lists: starfishian (9)

Score: 2.31

98
If This Is a Man
by Primo Levi
5,398 members, 91 reviews
4.31 stars (4.31 stars)

Lists: thecoroner (9)

Score: 2.31

99
Letters and Papers from Prison
by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
807 members, 3 reviews
4.04 stars (4.04 stars)

Lists: aulsmith (9)

Score: 2.31

Explanations:

aulsmith (9): Bonhoeffer was imprisoned because of his role in the White Rose conspiracy.

100
The War: A Memoir
by Marguerite Duras
716 members, 11 reviews
3.88 stars (3.88 stars)

Lists: Dilara86 (9)

Score: 2.31

All members' list: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11Sort: Score | Title | Author | Date

About this list

Started by: inge87 (July 2014)

Type: Numbered and unnumbered

Related tags

20th century (3,897) autobiography (3,654) biography (15,424) England (3,332) fantasy (9,065) fiction (93,382) France (3,755) Germany (9,010) historical fiction (34,866) history (49,208) Holocaust (26,216) Japan (4,881) literature (4,895) memoir (6,557) military history (4,142) mystery (4,870) non-fiction (23,257) novel (10,677) read (6,906) science fiction (7,585) time travel (3,851) to-read (57,363) war (9,971) WWII (126,401) young adult (4,522)