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Hey all!!! :biglove Here is a thread for all those people who like historical books. I personally love books based on the events of WWI/II and our own civil war.
Here are a few that are really good:
Twilight of the Wagners - Gottfried Wagner
Soldier's Heart - Gary Paulsen
It Took Heroes: A Cavalry Chaplain's Memoir of Vietnam - Claude D. Newby
A Separate Peace - John Knowles
There ya' go! :lol
I must recommend "The Sorrow of War: A Novel of North Vietanam", by Bao Ninh. One of the best war novels I have ever read, and also one of the most underrated here in the West. It is a hauntingly powerful, semi-autobiographical account of the war that has been forever condemned as "America's Mistake", told through the eyes of The Other.
This book transcends culture and illustrates, above all else, the universality of the human condition. Can you believe that is a landmark work in contemporary Asian literature, yet practically no one has heard of it in North America?
I know plenty of good war literature, but this is the one I really felt needed highlighting.
Wow. It sounds really interesting. I'll have to check this out. Maybe I can get some more people into the book over here. I'm not the only history buff in Fountain. :lol
That's crazy that it is not very popular here. Though, everyone has a hidden agenda. :nod It is just a matter of whose agenda it is (to cover it up, I mean). :rofl j/k
My favorite WWII historical fiction novels are The Winds of War and War and Rememberance by Herman Wouk. They follow an American military family and those close to them through the entire war - from the deck of a battleship to the horrors of the concentration camp. They give you an excellent global perspective on the war.
Also, if you're a little fuzzy on your WWII battles, these are great books as they feature play-by-plays of Warsaw, Pearl Harbor, Midway and many others.
My favorite nonfiction WWII historical novel is Night by Elie Weisel, it's only 60 pages, but it's the most gripping and important 60 pages you'll ever read.
And of course, WWI, you have to read All Quiet on the Western Front - shocking and horrific as it is.
Night by Elie Weisel is someone everyone should read someday in their lifetime. Excellent recommendation. I remember when he came to our university and spoke to a filled auditorium. Nary a dry eye by the time he was done.
Wow! If Weisel speaks like he writes then I'm sure that was a powerful event! Even though I've read quite a bit of literature on the halocaust (sp?) I broke down in tears after that book.
I agree with hazy about Night. Everyone should read that at some point in their life.
Wow, thanks all! :lol I'll be sure to check out all of these books over the coming year.
I've read (and watched) All Quiet on the Western Front. Good book... and movie! :nod
Just started reading Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides. It is an absolutely terrific read. I wouldn't be surprised to see it made into a movie someday soon. It is the true story of the rescue of the American POWs who survived the Bataan Death March.
Well, this one is old, but it deserves a mention, considering it won the author (a political figurehead in his own right) the Nobel Prize for Literature.
I'm talking about Winston Churchill's "The Second World War", of course. At six volumes, it makes for heavy reading, but I think what sets it apart from all the other works mentioned is that its topic, and the status of its author embues the prose with a certain, indefinable grandeur. Personal decisions have transnational repercussions, and Churchill recounts for the reader a world where history is a battleground populated with larger-than-life characters.