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Today is 6th June, marking the 81st anniversary of the D-Day landings. D-Day was the largest seaborne invasion in history and a turning point in World War II. A perfect opportunity to reflect only on how war has shaped and scarred the human story.
War novels, at their best, are not just about battlefields, but about the people who move through them, the memories they shoulder, and the hope that flickers even in the darkest hours.
Here are twenty novels, not only from World War II, but also from other conflicts, that shine a light and tell stories about conflict, compassion, and endurance. Each comes with a quote—a shard of truth, if you like—and a reason to read.
World War I and Its Aftermath
1. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
"To no man does the earth mean so much as to the soldier... she is his only friend, his brother, his mother."
This anti-war classic strips away any illusion of glory, showing the devastation of WWI through the eyes of a young German soldier. A powerful reminder of our shared vulnerability.
It’s a deeply humane novel that still resonates a century later.
2. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
"I do not know what it is like to live through this and go on living."
Faulks weaves love and horror together in this haunting portrait of the trenches. Lyrical, brutal, unforgettable.
Its emotional reach spans generations, binding past and present through memory.
3. Regeneration by Pat Barker
"Sometimes, when you’re alone, you remember things you don’t want to."
The first book in Barker’s trilogy explores the psychological wounds of war, drawing on real-life figures like Siegfried Sassoon and W.H.R. Rivers. Essential reading on trauma and healing.
It’s a sensitive portrayal of mental health, masculinity, and the language of pain.
4. Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo
"Inside me, I’m screaming, nobody pays any attention."
Told from the perspective of a soldier gravely wounded in WWI, this is one of the most searing anti-war books ever written.
This book's raw power comes from what’s left unsaid—and what’s left of the man inside.
5. Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden
"We fought and fought, and the snow kept falling, kept covering everything."
A lyrical, devastating novel following two Cree snipers in WWI. A powerful story of Indigenous identity, violence, and spiritual loss.
This story is a quiet epic about identity, trauma, and the cost of survival.
World War II and the Home Front
6. The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
"Life is like a gladiators' arena for the soul."
Mailer’s Pacific War epic captures the corrosive effects of power and the raw psychology of soldiers in combat. Written when Mailer was only 25 and had served in the US Army in the Pacific, which he said was 'the worst experience of my life, and also the most important'.
Bold, brutal, and often controversial, it remains one of the great WWII novels.
7. Empire of the Sun by J.G. Ballard
"War had surrounded him with its silence, and he was determined to accept it."
Based on Ballard’s childhood internment in a Japanese camp, this novel offers a haunting civilian view of WWII.
Its child’s-eye perspective makes the horrors of war feel all the more surreal.
8. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
"I am haunted by humans."
Told from Death’s perspective, this novel shows the power of words—and of quiet resistance—amid Nazi Germany.
It’s heartbreaking and unexpectedly life-affirming.
9. Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman
"In the final reckoning, the truth is always stronger than propaganda."
This sweeping Russian epic about Stalingrad is often referred to as the Soviet War and Peace—a devastating examination of totalitarianism, ideology, and resilience.
A masterpiece that was once banned, it’s now regarded as one of the century’s greatest novels.
Vietnam and the disillusioned soldier
10. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
"A true war story is never about war. It's about love and memory."
A genre-defying work of short fiction, memoir, and myth, this is perhaps the most haunting book written about Vietnam.
A profound, shape-shifting exploration of guilt, storytelling, and survival.
11. Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes
"He ran because fate had placed him in a position of responsibility, and he had accepted the burden."
A deeply immersive Vietnam War novel, packed with detail, and a moving meditation on leadership and sacrifice. It’s as much about leadership and moral choices as it is about jungle warfare.
12. Fields of Fire by James Webb
"Live the expendable existence of the average ground-pounder? This is your chance."
Written by a Marine Corps veteran and former U.S. senator, this novel throws you into the mud, blood, and brutal brotherhood of Vietnam. It’s a ferocious story of friendship, race, and sacrifice in a war zone.
Modern Warfare and its lingering shadows
13. Rain by Barney Campbell
This modern British novel presents a visceral portrayal of war in Afghanistan and the bureaucratic framework that surrounds it, and has been described 'No better on-the-ground description of Britain's war will ever be written. It’s precise, pained, and full of things left unsaid.
'I have to go down the line of the boys as they're checking their kit before we go out. Some of them are crying, not bawling just weeping gently but still steadfast.'
14. The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
"We were not destined at all."
A poetic, devastating novel about Iraq, memory, and the impossibility of coming home unchanged. It’s lyrical, devastating, and deeply personal.
15. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
"For you, a thousand times over."
Though not a traditional war novel, its story is shaped by decades of conflict in Afghanistan. A deeply personal tale of guilt, betrayal, and redemption.
A novel about guilt, redemption, and the wars we carry inside.
16. The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
"You do not choose your time. It chooses you."
Set during the siege of Sarajevo, this novel explores resistance through art and the quiet acts of human dignity in wartime. Quiet, philosophical, and strangely hopeful.
Other fronts, other futures
17. The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
It stands apart with its espionage twist, philosophical depth, and satirical take on both war and exile. It balances beautifully with Matterhorn and The Things They Carried, adding complexity to the American-Vietnamese legacy.
18. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
"The world is a fine place and worth the fighting for."
Set in the Spanish Civil War, this is Hemingway at his most political and poetic, rich with sacrifice and moral reckoning. A novel of courage, doomed love, and moral reckoning.
19. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
"The only war is the war you fought in."
A sci-fi classic written by a Vietnam veteran, it’s a mirror held up to the insanity of modern war and the soldier’s alienation on return. Smart, strange, and endlessly relevant.
20. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
"So it goes."
Dark, funny, heartbreaking. Vonnegut’s time-travelling, genre-breaking novel is unlike anything else—a meditation on trauma, fate, and survival. It’s a war novel—and an anti-war novel—like no other.
This is a real personal favourite.
Books that stay with you
These novels don’t just recount battles; they invite us to sit with fear, hope, and heartbreak. They’re stories of courage, chaos, and what it means to be human in impossible times. And while they confront us with war’s harsh truths, they also remind us why storytelling matters: to remember, to reckon, and to feel. Pick up any one of these and you’ll find not just history, but unforgettable characters, incredible writing, and books that stay with you long after the final page.
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