Please can anyone recommend a good book about WWI or WWII?

Question

I am embarrassed that I know so little history, and would like to begin to make amends, so the world wars are probably a good place to start. Ideally the book should to be entertaining to read, not too much opinion, and balanced...there are so many books out there about the world wars, I don't know where to start...can anybody help?

Thanks

Many many thanks for all your suggestions. I should have pointed out I'm not looking for fiction - more a well-written historical account. Keep them coming!

Answer 1

Try reading Night by Eli Weisel. It describes his trials and tribulations in concentration camps, it's very, very heart-wrenching.

Answer 2

There are SO many books about these time periods, I'm not even sure where to begin. Here are a few novels I've particularly enjoyed:

For WWI, read Pat Barker's 'Regeneration' trilogy: 'Regeneration', 'The Eye in the Door', and 'The Ghost Road' (the first is my favourite; they are all excellent!). Many of her characters were historical figures, others are based on case histories and records. Through all three books, you get an excellent sense of what life was like on the front lines, within the British government, and for those left on the homefront.

For WWII, one of my favourite books is Louis de Bernieres' 'Captain Corelli's Mandolin,' a romance set against the Italian occupation of Greece. Not only does it show Greek life before, during, and after the war, but you get snippets of what's going on elsewhere. Parts of it are hysterical, others heartbreaking. Note: do NOT rent the movie!!

De Bernieres also wrote 'Birds Without Wings'. It's a different sort of book, but much of it is set during WWI. The history of modern Turkey is a huge part of the novel.

If you're looking for good books on the Holocaust, try 'Night' (mentioned above), 'The Pianist' (the memoir by Władysław Szpilman), and Art Spiegelman's 'Maus'. 'Maus' is a graphic novel and won the Pulitzer Prize--it is the true story of the artist's father in the concentration camps.

Answer 3

Well, to tell you the truth, no matter where you start when making amends... The importan point is that you're trying to do it. My personal advice would be for you to read a brief account of both wars at any history book, then you should keep on reading some materail realted to the action which took place during war periods. That's the way I did it, and a good book to bear in mind is "Mein Kampf" by Adolf Hitler... (don't worry I'm not a Nazi) this type of books may be relatively easy to read once you have learned at least the most important factors in World Wars... Good Luck with history, and if you don't mind, why this sudden interest?

Answer 4

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque is a classic WWI book.

For WWII, all of my favorites focus on the Holocaust rather than the fighting, but that is an important topic to know about.
I like The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom, The Diary of Anne Frank and Night by Elie Wiesel.

The Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene is an interesting cultural topic.

There are many, many more- especially for advanced reading, but you don't mention your age, so I'll stick with the most obvious.

Answer 5

For WWI, I recommend "The Guns of August" by Barbara Tuchman. It came out in 1964, the 50th anniversary of the start, but it's still a good description of all the players, the events and atmosphere that led to war, and how the events of August shaped the way the war would be fought for the next four years. Also, you can probably pick up a cheap paperback on amazon.com.

Answer 6

There a million books about both wars, entertaining is not quite how i would see the subject of war, but The World at War is the definitive work on WW2.

Answer 7

Well, if you want an introduction on WWII: I'd suggest the books by Martin Gilbert, a British historian.

There are several excellent listings online as well, but you of course have to be able to spot a tree in the woods as it were...

Answer 8

Remarque's "All Quiet on the Western Front" (as mentioned by someone else here) is excellent, not least because it's written by a German about WW1.
Both "Catch 22" and the lesser known "Johnny Got His Gun" by Dalton Trumbo are also excellent. I recently read Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse 5" and for me anyway, it was really disappointing.

Answer 9

I could recommend the war poets? Seigfried Sasoon perhaps?Or Wilfred Owen?poetry I know but takes some reading between the lines so to speak!!!!!!!!!!kinda tells you the story of life in the trenches.

Answer 10

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller takes place during WWII or you might want to read Generals Don't Die in Bed which is set during WWI.

Answer 11

In between world war 1 do you, try Enemy at the Gates by William Craig. Its about a Russian Sniper in 1942, at the Battle of Stalingrad. And it tells the story of his rise to fame and about the German Sniper sent out to kill hem.