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Summer is fully upon us and so, for those wanting to relax by the pool or on the beach with a great page-turner, here’s a list of novels about WWII that I think you might enjoy. They can be purchased at all good online bookstores or easily ordered at your local bookstore.
1] War of the Rats – David Robbins
The prolific Robbins, author of many fine narratives about WWII, hits it out of the park with this gripping story of dueling snipers at Stalingrad. Set against the backdrop of the most pivotal battle on the Eastern Front, Robbins immerses us from the first page in this saga of the Red Army’s finest sniper, its top “long distance assassin”, facing off against the Nazis’ deadliest shot. The drama is relentless and the historical accuracy makes for one hell of an authentic ride.
2] All the Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr
Many critics have hailed this as among the finest novels of this century, let alone about WWII. Ten years in the writing, this deeply moving novel recounts the fates of a blind French girl and a young German soldier in war-torn France. A deserved winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Doerr’s masterpiece was recently adapted into a Netflix series which, unsurprisingly, failed to capture the extraordinary power of the novel, a luminous work of art, whose every sentence is lovingly crafted.
3] Eye of The Needle - Ken Follett
The film version of this thriller features one of the late Donald Sutherland’s best performances. This genuine page-turner, first published as “Storm Island” in 1978, is now rightly regarded as a timeless classic of the suspense genre. Follett’s first best-seller masterfully follows the fortunes of a German spy, “The Needle”, and of a beautiful young English woman, marooned with her bitter, alcoholic husband on a Scottish island in the run-up to D Day, 6 June 1944. To say more about the plot would be to ruin a fabulous read.
4] Fatherland – Robert Harris
Set in Nazi Germany in 1964, almost two decades after Hitler won WWII, this novel deservedly made Robert Harris’ name when published in 1992. It’s an ingenious alternative history detective story, featuring Kripo sleuth Xavier March, tasked with investigating the death of a top Nazi. If you ever wondered what the world would have been like had Hitler indeed prevailed, this is a chilling picture of evil triumphant, complete with Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. as US president.
5] The Nightingale – Kristin Hannah
I was hesitant to pick up this mega blockbuster by the hugely successful Kristin Hannah – the cover and extravagant blurbs on it were a little off-putting for a middle-aged English bloke. Surely this story of two French sisters in Nazi-occupied France was going to be a corny romance full of implausible plot turns and replete with historical inaccuracy – WWII “chick-lit” at its worst? Boy was I in for a wonderful surprise. The perfect beach read.
6] Sarah’s Key - Tatiana de Rosnay
My mother loved this book and gifted it to me not long after it was published in 2007. There are two parallel plots: that of ten-year-old Sarah Starzynski, a girl arrested during the infamous July 1942 round-up of Jews in Paris; and that of Julia Jarmond, an American journalist living in the same city more than sixty years later. Rejected by more than 20 publishers before appearing first in French, it’s since sold more than ten million copies in more than forty countries – testament to a truly heart-breaking, at times spell-binding narrative. Pack a handkerchief along with the sun tan lotion.
7] The Thin Red Line – James Jones
I’m a huge fan of James Jones, a Pacific Theatre veteran who served in the 25th Infantry Division. This is his most affecting novel, weighing in at over five hundred pages, and one of the most realistic, jarring accounts of war ever written. Some critics have called it the best American novel about WWII, and it certainly qualifies as the finest by an American combat veteran, and the best about the bloody hell that was the Guadalcanal campaign. I was utterly absorbed.
8] The Cruel Sea – Nicholas Monsarrat
My dad practically made me read this story by the sublimely gifted Monsarrat. I’m so glad he did. I was too young to really understand its full power and so I reread it recently. Published in 1951, the novel follows a group of British sailors through the Battle of the Atlantic – the longest continuous campaign of WWII. It’s the best depiction I’ve come across of how ordinary men battled the weather, the ocean and German U-boats in WWII, a gem of naval literature, adapted into a superb 1953 movie.
9] Beneath A Scarlet Sky – Mark Sullivan
So many people raved about this book that I finally had to read it. I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly I got caught up in the story of Pino Lella, an Italian teenager during WWII who falls in love with a widow, works as a driver for a top Nazi, and also risks all for the resistance. A smooth, suspenseful and heart-warming read, packed with action and romance.
10] The Eagle Has Landed – Jack Higgins
For quite a while, author Jack Higgins ruled the roost. This 1975 novel by the incredibly productive British writer centers on a Nazi plot to kidnap Winston Churchill during the war. The film version, released the following year, starred Michael Caine and Donald Sutherland, both on fine form. Higgins does a tremendous job making this thriller feel as if it might have actually happened. The plot is indeed ingenious but highly believable. You’re left wondering: why on earth didn’t the Nazis actually try this?
