Discover new books on Goodreads
Meet your next favorite book
Sign in with Facebook
The best and most important WWII historical fiction, biographical fiction, and biography... a list of books to give any reader allergic to straight history texts a real grounding in the era and issues of World War 2.
Score
A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
| 1 |
|
The Book Thief
by
Markus Zusak (Goodreads Author)
4.39 avg rating — 2,823,693 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 2 |
|
The Diary of a Young Girl
by
4.20 avg rating — 4,107,699 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 3 |
|
Night
by
4.38 avg rating — 1,342,447 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 4 |
|
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
by
4.19 avg rating — 798,468 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 5 |
|
Catch-22
by
3.99 avg rating — 877,442 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 6 |
|
All the Light We Cannot See
by
Anthony Doerr (Goodreads Author)
4.31 avg rating — 1,925,035 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 7 |
|
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption
by
4.39 avg rating — 993,953 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 8 |
|
Schindler’s List
by
4.34 avg rating — 164,785 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 9 |
|
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
by
John Boyne (Goodreads Author)
4.16 avg rating — 945,103 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 10 |
|
The Hiding Place: The Triumphant True Story of Corrie Ten Boom
by
4.48 avg rating — 350,774 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 11 |
|
Sarah's Key
by
Tatiana de Rosnay (Goodreads Author)
4.18 avg rating — 491,575 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 12 |
|
In Pursuit of Platinum: The Shocking Secret of World War II (Ben Peters WWII Thriller series #1)
by
Vic Robbie (Goodreads Author)
3.67 avg rating — 512 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 13 |
|
Hiroshima
by
4.05 avg rating — 87,489 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 14 |
|
The Nightingale
by
Kristin Hannah (Goodreads Author)
4.64 avg rating — 1,959,008 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 15 |
|
Suite Française
by
3.86 avg rating — 77,375 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 16 |
|
Number the Stars
by
Lois Lowry (Goodreads Author)
4.19 avg rating — 611,779 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 17 |
|
Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest
by
4.44 avg rating — 136,865 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 18 |
|
Slaughterhouse-Five
by
4.10 avg rating — 1,460,777 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 19 |
|
The Winds of War (The Henry Family, #1)
by
4.38 avg rating — 59,099 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 20 |
|
Sophie’s Choice
by
4.17 avg rating — 93,888 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 21 |
|
The Longest Day: June 6, 1944
by
4.34 avg rating — 25,899 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 22 |
|
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
by
Jamie Ford (Goodreads Author)
4.05 avg rating — 312,833 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 23 |
|
Man's Search for Meaning
by
4.37 avg rating — 845,017 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 24 |
|
Atonement
by
Ian McEwan (Goodreads Author)
3.95 avg rating — 555,727 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 25 |
|
Farewell to Manzanar: A True Story of Japanese American Experience During and After the World War II Internment
by
3.71 avg rating — 19,680 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 26 |
|
Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War
by
4.30 avg rating — 68,226 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 27 |
|
War and Remembrance (The Henry Family, #2)
by
4.43 avg rating — 39,076 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 28 |
|
In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin
by
Erik Larson (Goodreads Author)
3.89 avg rating — 216,651 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 29 |
|
Those Who Save Us
by
Jenna Blum (Goodreads Author)
4.11 avg rating — 103,118 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 30 |
|
The Blood Red Sea
by
Anthony Hulse (Goodreads Author)
4.57 avg rating — 46 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 31 |
|
A Town Like Alice
by
4.16 avg rating — 61,165 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 32 |
|
Eye of the Needle
by
Ken Follett (Goodreads Author)
4.21 avg rating — 167,145 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 33 |
|
Snow Falling on Cedars
by
3.86 avg rating — 193,041 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 34 |
|
The Thin Red Line
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 14,331 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 35 |
|
Savaged Lands
by
Lana Kortchik (Goodreads Author)
4.08 avg rating — 3,725 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 36 |
|
A Bridge Too Far
by
4.27 avg rating — 21,363 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 37 |
|
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany
by
4.22 avg rating — 145,702 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 38 |
|
Mila 18
by
4.32 avg rating — 26,418 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 39 |
|
Anne Frank Remembered: The Story of the Woman Who Helped to Hide the Frank Family
by
4.30 avg rating — 66,279 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 40 |
|
Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History (Maus, #1)
by
4.39 avg rating — 368,499 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 41 |
|
The English Patient
by
3.86 avg rating — 138,019 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 42 |
|
The Destruction of Dresden
by
4.02 avg rating — 272 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 43 |
|
HHhH
by
4.07 avg rating — 27,708 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 44 |
|
Knight's Cross: A Life of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
by
4.13 avg rating — 2,109 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 45 |
|
The Key to Rebecca
by
Ken Follett (Goodreads Author)
3.96 avg rating — 42,427 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 46 |
|
Jackdaws
by
Ken Follett (Goodreads Author)
4.08 avg rating — 42,760 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 47 |
|
Citizen Soldiers: The US Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany
by
4.24 avg rating — 24,418 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 48 |
|
With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa
by
4.49 avg rating — 46,506 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 49 |
|
The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story
by
Diane Ackerman (Goodreads Author)
3.49 avg rating — 91,150 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 50 |
|
From Here to Eternity
by
4.08 avg rating — 18,003 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 51 |
|
Company Commander: The Classic Infantry Memoir of World War II
by
4.23 avg rating — 4,927 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 52 |
|
The Nazi Officer's Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust
by
4.17 avg rating — 48,749 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 53 |
|
Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal
by
4.14 avg rating — 19,931 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 54 |
|
The Reader
by
3.79 avg rating — 227,953 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 55 |
|
The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion
by
4.03 avg rating — 56,219 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 56 |
|
The Guns of August
by
4.18 avg rating — 83,264 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 57 |
|
Salt to the Sea
by
Ruta Sepetys (Goodreads Author)
4.35 avg rating — 247,948 ratings
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 58 |
|
Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two
by
3.91 avg rating — 18,097 ratings
score: 842,
and
9 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 59 |
|
Survival in Auschwitz
by
4.34 avg rating — 84,686 ratings
score: 840,
and
9 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 60 |
|
King Hui: The Man Who Owned All the Opium in Hong Kong
by
Jonathan Chamberlain (Goodreads Author)
3.84 avg rating — 55 ratings
score: 820,
and
9 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 61 |
|
The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II
by
4.25 avg rating — 51,625 ratings
score: 815,
and
9 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 62 |
|
Winter Garden
by
Kristin Hannah (Goodreads Author)
4.28 avg rating — 396,525 ratings
score: 811,
and
9 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 63 |
|
An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943 (World War II Liberation Trilogy, #1)
by
4.30 avg rating — 22,375 ratings
score: 808,
and
9 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 64 |
|
The Rising Sun: The Decline & Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-45
by
4.30 avg rating — 5,991 ratings
score: 750,
and
8 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 65 |
|
Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters
by
4.33 avg rating — 19,854 ratings
score: 739,
and
9 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 66 |
|
The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 (World War II Liberation Trilogy, #3)
by
4.48 avg rating — 10,659 ratings
score: 729,
and
8 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 67 |
|
D-Day, June 6, 1944: The Battle for the Normandy Beaches
by
4.31 avg rating — 31,107 ratings
score: 723,
and
8 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 68 |
|
The Devil's Arithmetic
by
Jane Yolen (Goodreads Author)
4.03 avg rating — 61,694 ratings
score: 719,
and
8 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 69 |
|
Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began (Maus, #2)
by
4.43 avg rating — 156,734 ratings
score: 716,
and
8 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 70 |
|
Flags of Our Fathers
by
4.22 avg rating — 63,060 ratings
score: 714,
and
8 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 71 |
|
The Endless Steppe: Growing Up in Siberia
by
4.04 avg rating — 7,167 ratings
score: 712,
and
8 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 72 |
|
Through Innocent Eyes: The Chosen Girls of the Hitler Youth
by
Cynthia A. Sandor (Goodreads Author)
4.38 avg rating — 45 ratings
score: 700,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 73 |
|
When Books Went to War: The Stories that Helped Us Win World War II
by
Molly Guptill Manning (Goodreads Author)
3.92 avg rating — 8,466 ratings
score: 699,
and
8 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 74 |
|
Gone to Soldiers
by
4.27 avg rating — 5,107 ratings
score: 684,
and
8 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 75 |
|
City of Thieves
by
4.30 avg rating — 163,359 ratings
score: 678,
and
8 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 76 |
|
A Train in Winter (The Resistance #1)
by
3.85 avg rating — 8,730 ratings
score: 677,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 77 |
|
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
by
Daniel James Brown (Goodreads Author)
4.39 avg rating — 355,546 ratings
score: 672,
and
8 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 78 |
|
Code Name Verity (Code Name Verity, #1)
by
Elizabeth Wein (Goodreads Author)
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 126,631 ratings
score: 669,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 79 |
|
The Forgotten Soldier
by
4.39 avg rating — 11,937 ratings
score: 650,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 80 |
|
The Invisible Bridge
by
Julie Orringer (Goodreads Author)
4.18 avg rating — 53,840 ratings
score: 649,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 81 |
|
Beneath a Scarlet Sky
by
Mark T. Sullivan (Goodreads Author)
4.43 avg rating — 378,221 ratings
score: 643,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 82 |
|
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy
by
Eric Metaxas (Goodreads Author)
4.22 avg rating — 81,200 ratings
score: 639,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 83 |
|
Crabwalk
by
3.47 avg rating — 4,076 ratings
score: 637,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 84 |
|
Day After Night
by
Anita Diamant (Goodreads Author)
3.69 avg rating — 15,492 ratings
score: 635,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 85 |
|
Berlin Diary: The Journal of a Foreign Correspondent 1934-1941
by
4.34 avg rating — 6,376 ratings
score: 629,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 86 |
|
The Night Watch
by
3.71 avg rating — 32,909 ratings
score: 615,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 87 |
|
Helmet for My Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific
by
4.23 avg rating — 24,641 ratings
score: 613,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 88 |
|
Patton: A Genius for War
by
4.25 avg rating — 4,331 ratings
score: 606,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 89 |
|
Life After Life (Todd Family, #1)
by
3.79 avg rating — 239,045 ratings
score: 603,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 90 |
|
Corelli’s Mandolin
by
4.03 avg rating — 92,066 ratings
score: 602,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 91 |
|
The Second World War
by
4.40 avg rating — 10,526 ratings
score: 600,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 92 |
|
Charlotte Gray
by
3.83 avg rating — 12,711 ratings
score: 597,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 93 |
|
Battle Cry
by
4.17 avg rating — 10,239 ratings
score: 595,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 94 |
|
We Band of Angels: The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Bataan by the Japanese
by
Elizabeth M. Norman (Goodreads Author)
4.28 avg rating — 4,777 ratings
score: 591,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 95 |
|
One Man's Justice
by
3.95 avg rating — 369 ratings
score: 582,
and
6 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 96 |
|
Hiroshima in America
by
4.15 avg rating — 120 ratings
score: 557,
and
6 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 97 |
|
The Naked and the Dead
by
3.95 avg rating — 26,256 ratings
score: 552,
and
7 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 98 |
|
Killing the Rising Sun: How America Vanquished World War II Japan
by
Bill O'Reilly (Goodreads Author)
4.35 avg rating — 21,418 ratings
score: 546,
and
6 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 99 |
|
The Train to Crystal City: FDR's Secret Prisoner Exchange Program and America's Only Family Internment Camp During World War II
by
4.09 avg rating — 2,446 ratings
score: 545,
and
6 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
| 100 |
|
The Young Lions
by
4.24 avg rating — 4,514 ratings
score: 542,
and
6 people voted
|
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
|
696 books ·
580 voters ·
list created January 4th, 2010
by trishtrash (votes) .
trishtrash
882 books
28 friends
28 friends
Wendy
1467 books
133 friends
133 friends
Susanna - Censored by GoodReads
3384 books
853 friends
853 friends
Morgan
1419 books
1070 friends
1070 friends
Loren
460 books
62 friends
62 friends
Barbara
4117 books
53 friends
53 friends
Hailey
145 books
10 friends
10 friends
Alex
936 books
40 friends
40 friends
More voters…
Comments Showing 1-18 of 18 (18 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Patrick Mitchell
(new)
Nov 30, 2012 08:54PM
Obviously we don't understand the word "fiction"
reply
|
flag
If you'll point out the non-fiction, I'll be happy to remove it. (Knowing the place on the list as well as the title is very useful.)
The painted bird!!! A little disturbing though. be warned.
Office of Price Administration Tokens: Complete Image Resource & Checklist is fiction or a biography???
The book thief is twice, once at 2 and once at 35.
Maisie Dobbs is not WWII...it is WWI and the years immediately after.
Where is it, Sue? (If I know where it is, I can remove it.)
ranked in a group at 154 (part way down page 2)
Thanks. Will nab.
The Keep by F. Paul Wilson is a horror novel set during WW2, a classic
Gabe wrote: "The Keep by F. Paul Wilson is a horror novel set during WW2, a classic"Then you should add it. See the button at the top of the list; you are the only person that will add this book.
The system found and removed 6 duplicates.Also removed: The Wave, contemporary YA fiction:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...
And now the system has found and removed 2 more duplicates. Glad this one still works.
If I can suggest something I would recommend this book here from which the author has takes jokes for this article https://college-homework-help.org/blog/bibliography
AmandaCross wrote: "If I can suggest something I would recommend this book here from which the author has takes jokes for this article https://college-homework-help.org/blo..."AmandaCross wrote: "If I can suggest something I would recommend this book here from which the author has takes jokes for this article https://college-homework-help.org/blo..."
If you want a book added to the list, you can do that by using the button above it on the right. Everyone adds the books they want; volunteer librarians like me monitor the list and remove books that are clearly misplaced. That's it.
Related News
Need another excuse to treat yourself to a new book this week? We've got you covered with the buzziest new releases of the day, according to early...
Anyone can add books to this list.
How to Vote
To vote on existing books from the list, beside each book there is a link vote for this book clicking it will add that book to your votes.
To vote on books not in the list or books you couldn't find in the list, you can click on the tab add books to this list and then choose from your books, or simply search.
