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Books about World War II

Based on tag: WWII

Members: 15 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
34,894 members, 466 reviews
4.11 stars (4.11 stars)

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

Score: 20.04

2
The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak
36,327 members, 1,972 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
23,532 members, 452 reviews
4.08 stars (4.08 stars)

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

Score: 11.75

4
Night
by Elie Wiesel
22,270 members, 511 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
16,987 members, 367 reviews
4.22 stars (4.22 stars)

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

Score: 11.08

Explanations:

aulsmith (3): Also escaping the Holocaust

6
Suite Française
by Irène Némirovsky
8,908 members, 328 reviews
3.97 stars (3.97 stars)

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

Score: 10.33

7
The Night Watch
by Sarah Waters
4,011 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

8
Captain Corelli's Mandolin
by Louis De Bernières
7,156 members, 142 reviews
3.93 stars (3.93 stars)

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

Score: 9.29

9
Life After Life
by Kate Atkinson
6,766 members, 526 reviews
3.97 stars (3.97 stars)

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

Score: 8.59

10
Schindler's List
by Thomas Keneally
6,673 members, 80 reviews
4.16 stars (4.16 stars)

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

Score: 8.35

12
The Hiding Place
by Corrie Ten Boom
7,297 members, 117 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

13
Slaughterhouse-Five
by Kurt Vonnegut
37,936 members, 598 reviews
4.11 stars (4.11 stars)

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

Thumbs down: Bretzky1

Score: 6.98

14
Atonement
by Ian McEwan
23,566 members, 583 reviews
3.93 stars (3.93 stars)

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

Score: 6.76

15
Code Name Verity
by Elizabeth Wein
3,827 members, 338 reviews
4.31 stars (4.31 stars)

Lists: jain (1), inge87 (5)

Score: 6.68

16
The Second World War {complete}
by Winston S. Churchill
1,232 members, 8 reviews
4.26 stars (4.26 stars)

Lists: thecoroner (4), aulsmith (4)

Score: 5.66

17
The Tin Drum
by Günter Grass
6,644 members, 83 reviews
3.97 stars (3.97 stars)

Lists: thecoroner (2), gypsysmom (12)

Score: 5.51

18
King Rat
by James Clavell
2,428 members, 37 reviews
3.98 stars (3.98 stars)

Lists: KimarieBee (3), gypsysmom (13)

Score: 5.15

19
Anne Frank Remembered
by Miep Gies
1,227 members, 26 reviews
4.28 stars (4.28 stars)

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

Score: 5.13

20
All the Light We Cannot See
by Anthony Doerr
12,392 members, 709 reviews
4.3 stars (4.3 stars)

Lists: KimarieBee (4), gypsysmom (14)

Score: 4.9

21
Number the Stars
by Lois Lowry
14,385 members, 605 reviews
4.15 stars (4.15 stars)

Lists: ahef1963 (5), inge87 (11)

Score: 4.87

22
The Chosen
by Chaim Potok
6,095 members, 86 reviews
4.14 stars (4.14 stars)

Lists: jain (7), ahef1963 (10)

Score: 4.71

23
The Narrow Road to the Deep North
by Richard Flanagan
2,436 members, 129 reviews
4.04 stars (4.04 stars)

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

Score: 4.59

24
Those Who Save Us
by Jenna Blum
2,697 members, 150 reviews
4.03 stars (4.03 stars)

Lists: dara85 (6), starfishian (20)

Score: 4.45

25
Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
by Art Spiegelman
8,627 members, 212 reviews
4.44 stars (4.44 stars)

Lists: jain (9), inge87 (13)

Score: 4.42

26
Sophie's Choice
by William Styron
5,244 members, 81 reviews
4.14 stars (4.14 stars)

Lists: starfishian (8), thecoroner (17)

Score: 4.35

27
Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began
by Art Spiegelman
6,093 members, 115 reviews
4.48 stars (4.48 stars)

Lists: jain (10), inge87 (14)

Score: 4.32

28
Outlander
by Diana Gabaldon
19,493 members, 902 reviews
4.2 stars (4.2 stars)

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

Score: 4.31

29
The Naked and the Dead
by Norman Mailer
3,591 members, 39 reviews
3.92 stars (3.92 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

30
The Nightingale
by Kristin Hannah
5,896 members, 360 reviews
4.32 stars (4.32 stars)

Lists: dara85 (9), gypsysmom (17)

Score: 4.28

31
84 Charing Cross Road
by Helene Hanff
4,884 members, 297 reviews
4.24 stars (4.24 stars)

Lists: ahef1963 (11), gypsysmom (18)

Score: 4.14

32
The Zookeeper's Wife
by Diane Ackerman
3,875 members, 187 reviews
3.54 stars (3.54 stars)

Lists: starfishian (13), gypsysmom (19)

Score: 4.02

33
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes
by Eleanor Coerr
3,602 members, 89 reviews
3.91 stars (3.91 stars)

Lists: inge87 (10), aulsmith (26)

Score: 4.02

Explanations:

aulsmith (26): Effects of Hiroshima atomic bombing

34
This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen
by Tadeusz Borowski
1,305 members, 32 reviews
4.19 stars (4.19 stars)

Lists: starfishian (1)

Score: 4

35
History
by Elsa Morante
1,203 members, 25 reviews
4.18 stars (4.18 stars)

Lists: thecoroner (1)

Score: 4

36
Crete: The Battle and the Resistance
by Antony Beevor
434 members, 9 reviews
3.6 stars (3.6 stars)

Lists: wolfepack (1)

Score: 4

37
Strange Defeat: A Statement of Evidence Written in 1940
by Marc Bloch
383 members, 3 reviews
3.88 stars (3.88 stars)

Lists: Dilara86 (1)

Score: 4

38
Erzähl es niemandem!: Die Liebesgeschichte meiner Eltern
by Lillian Crott Berthung
27 members, 3 reviews
3.88 stars (3.88 stars)

Lists: inge87 (1)

Score: 4

39
Five Quarters of the Orange
by Joanne Harris
3,605 members, 72 reviews
3.76 stars (3.76 stars)

Lists: starfishian (16), gypsysmom (20)

Score: 3.89

40
Hiroshima
by John Hersey
1,863 members, 29 reviews
4.12 stars (4.12 stars)

Lists: aulsmith (14), thecoroner (25)

Score: 3.86

Explanations:

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

41
The Lost Garden
by Helen Humphreys
509 members, 34 reviews
3.85 stars (3.85 stars)

Lists: starfishian (17), gypsysmom (21)

Score: 3.84

42
The Distant Hours
by Kate Morton
3,137 members, 194 reviews
3.83 stars (3.83 stars)

Lists: starfishian (19), gypsysmom (28)

Score: 3.66

43
Briar Rose
by Jane Yolen
2,554 members, 100 reviews
3.98 stars (3.98 stars)

Lists: jain (16), aulsmith (36)

Score: 3.63

Explanations:

aulsmith (36): The holocaust

44
The Guns of Navarone
by Alistair MacLean
1,512 members, 35 reviews
3.85 stars (3.85 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.

45
Obasan
by Joy Kogawa
1,236 members, 26 reviews
3.76 stars (3.76 stars)

Lists: gypsysmom (27), aulsmith (33)

Score: 3.42

Explanations:

aulsmith (33): Canadian interment camps for the Japanese

46
Every Man Dies Alone
by Hans Fallada
3,050 members, 147 reviews
4.22 stars (4.22 stars)

Lists: Dilara86 (2)

Score: 3.36

47
The Winds of War
by Herman Wouk
2,863 members, 50 reviews
4.21 stars (4.21 stars)

Lists: KimarieBee (2)

Score: 3.36

48
The Longest Day: The Classic Epic of D-Day
by Cornelius Ryan
1,999 members, 38 reviews
4.13 stars (4.13 stars)

Lists: suitable1 (2)

Score: 3.36

49
The Baker's Daughter
by Sarah McCoy
581 members, 44 reviews
3.87 stars (3.87 stars)

Lists: dara85 (2)

Score: 3.36

50
In My Brother's Shadow: A Life and Death in the SS
by Uwe Timm
270 members, 5 reviews
3.84 stars (3.84 stars)

Lists: inge87 (2)

Score: 3.36

51
A World Destroyed: Hiroshima and Its Legacies
by Martin J. Sherwin
106 members, 0 reviews
3.86 stars (3.86 stars)

Lists: Bretzky1 (2)

Score: 3.36

52
Farthing
by Jo Walton
1,418 members, 107 reviews
3.89 stars (3.89 stars)

Lists: jain (2), gypsysmom (31)

Thumbs down: aulsmith

Score: 3.06

Explanations:

aulsmith (0): Takes place after an alternate wwii

53
A Bridge Too Far
by Cornelius Ryan
1,736 members, 22 reviews
4.14 stars (4.14 stars)

Lists: suitable1 (3)

Score: 3.04

54
Group Portrait With Lady
by Heinrich Böll
1,136 members, 15 reviews
3.91 stars (3.91 stars)

Lists: thecoroner (3)

Score: 3.04

56
Coming out under fire
by Allan Bérubé
381 members, 7 reviews
4.18 stars (4.18 stars)

Lists: jain (3)

Score: 3.04

57
Abigail
by Magda Szabó
202 members, 14 reviews
4.28 stars (4.28 stars)

Lists: Dilara86 (3)

Score: 3.04

58
A Thread of Grace
by Mary Doria Russell
1,948 members, 84 reviews
4.01 stars (4.01 stars)

Lists: starfishian (4)

Score: 2.83

59
The Third Reich at War
by Richard J. Evans
1,021 members, 22 reviews
4.34 stars (4.34 stars)

Lists: Bretzky1 (4)

Score: 2.83

60
Rose Under Fire
by Elizabeth Wein
991 members, 92 reviews
4.25 stars (4.25 stars)

Lists: kara.shamy (4)

Score: 2.83

61
Church of Spies: The Pope's Secret War against Hitler
by Mark Riebling
133 members, 3 reviews
4.54 stars (4.54 stars)

Lists: inge87 (4)

Score: 2.83

63
History of the Second World War
by B. H. Liddell Hart
729 members, 4 reviews
3.93 stars (3.93 stars)

Lists: aulsmith (5)

Score: 2.68

64
Memoirs of the Second World War
by Winston S. Churchill
653 members, 7 reviews
4.22 stars (4.22 stars)

Lists: Bretzky1 (5)

Score: 2.68

65
Johnny the Partisan
by Beppe Fenoglio
293 members, 4 reviews
3.94 stars (3.94 stars)

Lists: thecoroner (5)

Score: 2.68

66
The Moon Is Down
by John Steinbeck
2,822 members, 90 reviews
3.82 stars (3.82 stars)

Lists: aulsmith (6)

Score: 2.56

Explanations:

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

67
The Seventh Cross
by Anna Seghers
632 members, 11 reviews
4.1 stars (4.1 stars)

Lists: Dilara86 (6)

Score: 2.56

68
Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom
by Conrad Black
406 members, 4 reviews
4.26 stars (4.26 stars)

Lists: Bretzky1 (6)

Score: 2.56

69
The Oaken Heart
by Margery Allingham
53 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

70
Between Shades of Gray
by Ruta Sepetys
3,694 members, 317 reviews
4.27 stars (4.27 stars)

Lists: dara85 (7)

Score: 2.46

71
Life and Fate
by Vasily Grossman
2,604 members, 76 reviews
4.36 stars (4.36 stars)

Lists: thecoroner (7)

Score: 2.46

72
Crabwalk
by Günter Grass
1,013 members, 22 reviews
3.56 stars (3.56 stars)

Lists: inge87 (7)

Score: 2.46

73
The Last 100 Days: The Tumultuous and Controversial Story of the Final Days of World War II in Europe
by John Toland
485 members, 6 reviews
3.85 stars (3.85 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.

74
None of Us Will Return
by Charlotte Delbo
66 members, 1 review
4.08 stars (4.08 stars)

Lists: Dilara86 (7)

Score: 2.46

75
The Origins of Major War (Cornell Studies in Security Affairs)
by Dale C. Copeland
34 members, 1 review
3.5 stars (3.5 stars)

Lists: Bretzky1 (7)

Score: 2.46

76
The English Patient
by Michael Ondaatje
10,231 members, 156 reviews
3.9 stars (3.9 stars)

Lists: jain (8)

Score: 2.38

77
Gravity's Rainbow
by Thomas Pynchon
9,308 members, 121 reviews
4.08 stars (4.08 stars)

Lists: thecoroner (8)

Score: 2.38

78
The Final Solution. A Story of Detection
by Michael Chabon
3,420 members, 149 reviews
3.4 stars (3.4 stars)

Lists: aulsmith (8)

Score: 2.38

79
Beneath a Scarlet Sky
by Mark Sullivan
1,515 members, 77 reviews
4.15 stars (4.15 stars)

Lists: dara85 (8)

Score: 2.38

80
Dominion
by C. J. Sansom
859 members, 52 reviews
3.62 stars (3.62 stars)

Lists: kara.shamy (8)

Score: 2.38

81
Neighbors: The Destruction of the Jewish Community in Jedwabne, Poland
by Jan T. Gross
479 members, 20 reviews
3.92 stars (3.92 stars)

Lists: inge87 (8)

Score: 2.38

82
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

84
Snow Falling on Cedars
by David Guterson
11,493 members, 171 reviews
3.75 stars (3.75 stars)

Lists: starfishian (9)

Score: 2.31

85
If This Is a Man
by Primo Levi
5,082 members, 92 reviews
4.3 stars (4.3 stars)

Lists: thecoroner (9)

Score: 2.31

86
Letters and Papers from Prison
by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
2,698 members, 11 reviews
4.13 stars (4.13 stars)

Lists: aulsmith (9)

Score: 2.31

Explanations:

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

87
The War: A Memoir
by Marguerite Duras
661 members, 9 reviews
3.92 stars (3.92 stars)

Lists: Dilara86 (9)

Score: 2.31

90
Explaining Hitler: The Search for the Origins of His Evil
by Ron Rosenbaum
599 members, 13 reviews
3.93 stars (3.93 stars)

Lists: aulsmith (10)

Score: 2.25

Explanations:

aulsmith (10): Excellent book on the mythology surrounding Hitler.

93
The Killing Trap: Genocide in the Twentieth Century
by Manus I. Midlarsky
17 members, 0 reviews
2.5 stars (2.5 stars)

Lists: Bretzky1 (10)

Score: 2.25

94
Confessions of a Mask
by Yukio Mishima
2,034 members, 34 reviews
3.79 stars (3.79 stars)

Lists: jain (11)

Score: 2.2

95
Black Rain
by Masuji Ibuse
722 members, 23 reviews
3.95 stars (3.95 stars)

Lists: thecoroner (11)

Score: 2.2

96
The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide
by Robert Jay Lifton
679 members, 7 reviews
4.07 stars (4.07 stars)

Lists: aulsmith (11)

Score: 2.2

Explanations:

aulsmith (11): An examination of the psyches of the doctors at Auschwitz.

97
War Brides
by Lois Battle
127 members, 3 reviews
3.14 stars (3.14 stars)

Lists: dara85 (11)

Score: 2.2

98
The History of Love
by Nicole Krauss
8,305 members, 292 reviews
3.89 stars (3.89 stars)

Lists: starfishian (12)

Score: 2.15

100
Tales of the South Pacific
by James A. Michener
1,502 members, 25 reviews
3.67 stars (3.67 stars)

Lists: ahef1963 (12)

Score: 2.15

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 (3,886) autobiography (3,591) biography (14,920) England (3,239) fantasy (8,694) fiction (91,403) France (3,582) Germany (8,739) historical fiction (32,495) history (47,700) Holocaust (26,494) Japan (4,752) literature (4,851) memoir (6,556) military history (4,184) mystery (4,141) non-fiction (22,826) novel (10,565) read (6,948) science fiction (7,332) time travel (3,756) to-read (50,615) war (9,868) WWII (124,259) young adult (4,349)