World War Two - Firsthand Accounts (nonfiction) (686 books)

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Non Fiction first hand accounts of World War II

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1	The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank 4.20 avg rating — 4,270,372 ratings score: 9,499, and 96 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
2	Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest by Stephen E. Ambrose 4.44 avg rating — 141,254 ratings score: 5,964, and 61 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
3	The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany by William L. Shirer 4.23 avg rating — 151,190 ratings score: 5,895, and 60 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
4	Hiroshima by John Hersey 4.06 avg rating — 91,728 ratings score: 4,985, and 51 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
5	The Longest Day: June 6, 1944 by Cornelius Ryan 4.34 avg rating — 26,484 ratings score: 4,459, and 46 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
6	Night by Elie Wiesel 4.38 avg rating — 1,388,059 ratings score: 4,345, and 45 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
7	Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand 4.39 avg rating — 1,009,793 ratings score: 4,278, and 44 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
8	With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene B. Sledge 4.50 avg rating — 49,138 ratings score: 3,895, and 40 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
9	The Hiding Place: The Triumphant True Story of Corrie Ten Boom by Corrie ten Boom 4.48 avg rating — 363,395 ratings score: 3,763, and 39 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
10	Citizen Soldiers: The US Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany by Stephen E. Ambrose 4.25 avg rating — 24,985 ratings score: 2,753, and 30 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
11	An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943 (World War II Liberation Trilogy, #1) by Rick Atkinson 4.30 avg rating — 23,419 ratings score: 2,653, and 28 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
12	Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters by Dick Winters 4.33 avg rating — 20,514 ratings score: 2,585, and 28 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
13	A Bridge Too Far by Cornelius Ryan 4.28 avg rating — 21,630 ratings score: 2,489, and 26 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
14	Escape From Davao: The Forgotten Story of the Most Daring Prison Break of the Pacific War by John D. Lukacs (Goodreads Author) 4.24 avg rating — 1,292 ratings score: 2,338, and 24 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
15	In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin by Erik Larson (Goodreads Author) 3.90 avg rating — 223,859 ratings score: 2,162, and 24 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
16	Flyboys: A True Story of Courage by James D. Bradley 4.20 avg rating — 23,467 ratings score: 2,125, and 23 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
17	Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege, 1942–1943 by Antony Beevor 4.33 avg rating — 42,394 ratings score: 2,114, and 22 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
18	D-Day, June 6, 1944: The Battle for the Normandy Beaches by Stephen E. Ambrose 4.32 avg rating — 31,841 ratings score: 2,085, and 22 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
18	Flags of Our Fathers by James D. Bradley 4.23 avg rating — 63,867 ratings score: 2,085, and 23 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
20	Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War by Mark Bowden 4.31 avg rating — 69,860 ratings score: 2,027, and 21 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
21	The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II by Iris Chang 4.25 avg rating — 56,326 ratings score: 2,016, and 21 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
22	Anne Frank Remembered: The Story of the Woman Who Helped to Hide the Frank Family by Miep Gies 4.31 avg rating — 66,704 ratings score: 1,891, and 20 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
23	The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 (World War II Liberation Trilogy, #2) by Rick Atkinson 4.36 avg rating — 16,208 ratings score: 1,789, and 19 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
24	The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer 4.39 avg rating — 12,348 ratings score: 1,780, and 19 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
25	Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl 4.37 avg rating — 912,789 ratings score: 1,723, and 18 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
26	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 — 4,982 ratings score: 1,678, and 18 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
27	The Third Reich at War (The History of the Third Reich, #3) by Richard J. Evans 4.40 avg rating — 6,450 ratings score: 1,658, and 18 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
28	D-Day: The Battle for Normandy by Antony Beevor 4.18 avg rating — 12,489 ratings score: 1,604, and 17 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
29	The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour by James D. Hornfischer 4.36 avg rating — 11,867 ratings score: 1,467, and 16 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
30	The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 (World War II Liberation Trilogy, #3) by Rick Atkinson 4.48 avg rating — 11,134 ratings score: 1,456, and 16 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
31	Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas (Goodreads Author) 4.21 avg rating — 84,291 ratings score: 1,357, and 15 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
32	Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi 4.35 avg rating — 88,919 ratings score: 1,333, and 14 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
33	Churchill's Secret War: The British Empire and the Ravaging of India During World War II by Madhusree Mukerjee 4.19 avg rating — 978 ratings score: 1,330, and 14 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
34	Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally 4.34 avg rating — 166,828 ratings score: 1,304, and 14 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
35	Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission by Hampton Sides 4.26 avg rating — 40,361 ratings score: 1,287, and 14 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
36	Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War by Susan Southard 4.27 avg rating — 2,189 ratings score: 1,162, and 12 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
37	Helmet for My Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific by Robert Leckie 4.23 avg rating — 25,679 ratings score: 1,150, and 13 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
38	The Nazi Officer's Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust by Edith Hahn Beer 4.17 avg rating — 49,524 ratings score: 1,149, and 12 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
39	A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary by Anonymous 4.29 avg rating — 18,232 ratings score: 1,144, and 12 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
40	Farewell to Manzanar: A True Story of Japanese American Experience During and After the World War II Internment by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston 3.72 avg rating — 20,565 ratings score: 1,135, and 12 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
41	Hiroshima Nagasaki by Paul Ham (Goodreads Author) 4.35 avg rating — 1,085 ratings score: 1,106, and 12 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
42	Miracle at Midway by Gordon W. Prange 4.23 avg rating — 5,085 ratings score: 1,049, and 11 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
43	Patton: A Genius for War by Carlo D'Este 4.25 avg rating — 4,358 ratings score: 1,023, and 11 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
44	Inside the Third Reich by Albert Speer 4.10 avg rating — 14,432 ratings score: 1,021, and 11 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
45	When Books Went to War: The Stories That Helped Us Win World War II by Molly Guptill Manning (Goodreads Author) 3.92 avg rating — 8,746 ratings score: 975, and 11 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
46	The Last Battle: The Classic History of the Battle for Berlin by Cornelius Ryan 4.25 avg rating — 7,163 ratings score: 929, and 10 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
47	Berlin Diary: The Journal of a Foreign Correspondent 1934-1941 by William L. Shirer 4.34 avg rating — 6,594 ratings score: 926, and 10 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
48	The Bedford Boys: One American Town's Ultimate D-Day Sacrifice by Alex Kershaw (Goodreads Author) 4.27 avg rating — 4,906 ratings score: 910, and 10 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
49	The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman 4.58 avg rating — 260,793 ratings score: 851, and 9 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
50	Berlin. The Downfall, 1945 by Antony Beevor 4.31 avg rating — 18,854 ratings score: 845, and 9 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
50	If You Survive: From Normandy to the Battle of the Bulge to the End of World War II, One American Officer's Riveting True Story by George Wilson 4.24 avg rating — 3,986 ratings score: 845, and 9 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
52	After the Reich: The Brutal History of the Allied Occupation by Giles MacDonogh 3.96 avg rating — 755 ratings score: 843, and 9 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
53	Company Commander: The Classic Infantry Memoir of World War II by Charles B. MacDonald 4.24 avg rating — 4,986 ratings score: 828, and 9 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
53	Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941–1942 by Ian W. Toll (Goodreads Author) 4.61 avg rating — 10,570 ratings score: 828, and 9 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
55	The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All For the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II by Gregory A. Freeman 4.10 avg rating — 13,796 ratings score: 825, and 9 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
56	Lost in Shangri-la: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II by Mitchell Zuckoff (Goodreads Author) 3.87 avg rating — 47,165 ratings score: 820, and 9 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
57	A Terrible Revenge: The Ethnic Cleansing of the East European Germans by Alfred-Maurice de Zayas 4.27 avg rating — 183 ratings score: 807, and 9 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
58	Quartered Safe Out Here: A Harrowing Tale of World War II by George MacDonald Fraser 4.16 avg rating — 4,199 ratings score: 760, and 8 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
59	Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal by Ben Macintyre 4.15 avg rating — 20,890 ratings score: 755, and 8 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
60	Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory by Ben Macintyre 4.04 avg rating — 24,222 ratings score: 747, and 8 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
60	Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal by James D. Hornfischer 4.31 avg rating — 7,544 ratings score: 747, and 8 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
62	We Die Alone: A WWII Epic of Escape and Endurance by David Howarth 4.09 avg rating — 10,883 ratings score: 746, and 8 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
63	Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger 4.16 avg rating — 22,658 ratings score: 740, and 8 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
64	The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman (Goodreads Author) 3.49 avg rating — 92,538 ratings score: 739, and 8 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
65	Auschwitz by Laurence Rees 4.32 avg rating — 18,383 ratings score: 735, and 8 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
66	Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath by Michael Norman 4.20 avg rating — 3,303 ratings score: 723, and 8 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
67	Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-45 by Max Hastings 4.28 avg rating — 5,276 ratings score: 717, and 8 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
68	The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s Over Germany 1944-45 by Stephen E. Ambrose really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 11,108 ratings score: 707, and 8 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
69	The Man Who Never Was by Ewen Montagu 3.96 avg rating — 1,706 ratings score: 690, and 7 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
70	Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner (Goodreads Author) 3.96 avg rating — 15,868 ratings score: 646, and 7 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
71	The Third Reich in Power (The History of the Third Reich, #2) by Richard J. Evans 4.36 avg rating — 7,769 ratings score: 619, and 7 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
72	The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta von Trapp 3.92 avg rating — 17,469 ratings score: 603, and 7 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
73	Heroes in Good Company: L Company, 86th Regiment, 10th Mountain Division 1943-1945 by Skyler Bailey (Goodreads Author) 4.57 avg rating — 28 ratings score: 600, and 6 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
74	Love and War in the Apennines by Eric Newby 4.24 avg rating — 2,081 ratings score: 584, and 6 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
75	The Road Past Mandalay: A Personal Narrative by John Masters 4.43 avg rating — 343 ratings score: 579, and 6 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
76	Evidence Not Seen: A Woman's Miraculous Faith in the Jungles of World War II by Darlene Deibler Rose 4.53 avg rating — 10,356 ratings score: 575, and 6 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
77	The Small Woman by Alan Burgess 4.28 avg rating — 1,713 ratings score: 570, and 6 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
78	Code Talker: The First and Only Memoir By One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII by Chester Nez 4.27 avg rating — 9,232 ratings score: 563, and 7 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
79	Crabwalk: A Powerful Historical Family Saga of the Deadliest Maritime Disaster and Its Legacy by Günter Grass 3.48 avg rating — 4,242 ratings score: 562, and 6 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
80	Once There Was a War by John Steinbeck 3.85 avg rating — 4,212 ratings score: 553, and 6 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
81	Eagle Against the Sun: The American War with Japan by Ronald H. Spector 4.08 avg rating — 2,629 ratings score: 543, and 6 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
82	In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors by Doug Stanton 4.33 avg rating — 23,810 ratings score: 521, and 6 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
83	Private Battles and The Khaki Cage by Jennie Laine Rylan 4.33 avg rating — 15 ratings score: 500, and 5 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
84	The Cage by Ruth Minsky Sender 4.10 avg rating — 6,510 ratings score: 489, and 5 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
85	Inferno: The World at War, 1939-1945 by Max Hastings 4.36 avg rating — 11,369 ratings score: 482, and 6 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
86	The Second World War: A Complete History by Martin Gilbert 4.24 avg rating — 2,010 ratings score: 480, and 5 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
87	Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany by Donald L. Miller 4.22 avg rating — 10,392 ratings score: 477, and 5 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
88	Baa Baa Black Sheep by Gregory Boyington 4.04 avg rating — 3,664 ratings score: 475, and 5 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
89	Memoirs of the Second World War by Winston S. Churchill 4.49 avg rating — 1,300 ratings score: 456, and 5 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
90	The Second World War by John Keegan 4.11 avg rating — 5,111 ratings score: 455, and 5 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
91	The Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War by Andrew Roberts 4.19 avg rating — 4,604 ratings score: 454, and 5 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
92	The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965 by William Manchester 4.44 avg rating — 7,549 ratings score: 450, and 5 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
93	Hiroshima in America by Robert Jay Lifton 4.12 avg rating — 128 ratings score: 449, and 5 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
93	The Railway Man by Eric Lomax 4.13 avg rating — 8,303 ratings score: 449, and 5 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
95	The Pianist: The Extraordinary Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939–45 by Władysław Szpilman 4.26 avg rating — 81,182 ratings score: 447, and 5 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
96	The Boy on the Wooden Box: How the Impossible Became Possible . . . on Schindler's List by Simon & Schuster 4.38 avg rating — 30,433 ratings score: 445, and 5 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
97	The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes 4.40 avg rating — 24,920 ratings score: 429, and 5 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
98	In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer by Irene Gut Opdyke 4.27 avg rating — 15,545 ratings score: 414, and 5 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
99	Ravensbrück: Life and Death in Hitler's Concentration Camp for Women by Sarah Helm 4.39 avg rating — 5,252 ratings score: 413, and 5 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
100	Documents on the Rape of Nanking by Timothy Brook (Editor) 4.57 avg rating — 110 ratings score: 387, and 4 people voted	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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686 books · 477 voters · list created May 2nd, 2009 by MEK (votes) .

Tags: 20th-century-history, american-history, asian-history, autobiography, battle, biography, british-history, espionage, european-history, history, ii, memoir, military-history, oss, resistance, united-states-history, war, world-history, world-war-2, world-war-ii, wwii

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MEK 982 books
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Susanna - Censored by GoodReads 3388 books
851 friends

Phillip 5275 books
138 friends

Ashley 5168 books
540 friends

Holly 105 books
143 friends

Jana 1251 books
90 friends

Ruth 922 books
14 friends

Vinicius 178 books
53 friends

More voters…

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Comments Showing 1-24 of 24 (24 new)

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message 1: by Rachel (new)

Apr 14, 2010 05:37PM

The Diary of a Young Girl and The Hiding Place are definitely tops.

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message 2: by J (new)

Jun 09, 2012 03:32AM

doesn't matter to me, this is a good list for me with regards to finding good WW2 reads.

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message 3: by Aasinathena (new)

Jul 20, 2012 09:19PM

Thank you soo soo much for the list. I'm a huge WWII fan and I guess I've got plenty of books to read about... :)!!!

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message 4: by Anna (new)

Jan 25, 2013 04:46PM

Deleted The Boy in the Striped Pajamas it is not first hand account and more importantly it is fiction.

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message 5: by Medha (new)

Nov 30, 2014 07:33PM

I need your help guys. I am trying find a book and I don't remember either the title or the author's name. It is a really old book about a soldier who dragged himself with injured leg . And its a world war survivor story.
I would really appreciate your help.

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message 6: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (new)

Dec 01, 2014 10:34AM

Have you tried the group "what's the name of this book?"

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message 7: by Kimberly (new)

Jun 18, 2015 07:25AM

I'm pretty sure Pride & Prejudice (~121) isn't WW2... great list, though!

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message 8: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (last edited Jun 18, 2015 08:57AM) (new)

Jun 18, 2015 08:55AM

I'll just nab that, Kimberly - thanks for mentioning it.

ETA: Also removing Jackboot Britain, as that is a novel and this list is for non-fiction.

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message 9: by Heidi (new)

Jun 20, 2017 02:08PM

If you look at the description, QB VII is fiction NOT non-fiction.

However good it might be.

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message 10: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (new)

Jun 20, 2017 02:26PM

Where on the list is it? (Makes it a lot easier to remove.)

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message 11: by Heidi (new)

Jun 20, 2017 02:53PM

It is number 125. Second page.

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message 12: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (new)

Jun 20, 2017 04:54PM

OK. Will remove.

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message 13: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (last edited Jun 20, 2017 05:16PM) (new)

Jun 20, 2017 04:57PM

Also removed for being historical fiction:

(Edelweiss Pirates #1) ‘Operation Einstein'
Schindler's List
Wave of Terror
Those Who Save Us
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Removed for not being about WW2:

Teachings Of Mahammad
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary
If I Ran the Circus

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message 14: by Joel (last edited Dec 26, 2017 05:10PM) (new)

Dec 26, 2017 04:57PM

There's something fishy about the top books on this list.

The top book as well as four others in the top twenty-five are about the atomic bombings, and another is about a American Japanese internment camp. The number two and three books are a revisionist take on the Allies role in entering the war with Germany, and both take the view that Hitler only wanted Danzig. Four books in the top thirty focus on the plight of the Germans in the post-war period under Allied occupation, and other is about India's occupation by Britain. I am not challenging the historicity of these topics, but the focus does seem to be overwhelmingly to the side of revisionism or demonization of the Allies and sympathy for the Axis countries.

If you were to take a poll of the top WWII books among historians, WWII buffs, or even ordinary readers, these are not the books that would pop up on top of their lists. The books that come to mind are general military overviews of the war, like that of Martin Gilbert, Max Hastings, Anthony Beevor, Gerhard Weinberg, or John Keegan, or tales about specific battles or campaigns - D-Day, Stalingrad, The Pacific Theater, especially from the point of view of the marines, Pearl Harbor, the battle for France and Germany, etc. Otherwise they are personal stories of civilians suffering, either in the holocaust, in the bombing blitzes, or starvation on the Russian front, or prisoners under Japanese cruelty in POW camps, and in China and the Philippines.

Sure - these books do feature highly on this list. Diary of a Young Girl, Band of Brothers, The Longest Day, With the Old Breed, Unbroken, these titles are probably the best known, most widely read, and favorite WWII books on any list. But I find it a little suspicious that these books are lower on the list than relatively obscure (judging from the number of ratings compared to the more popular ones) revisionist or Anti-Allied/Axis sympathetic books, and it makes me wonder who's driving the votes on this list. Something makes me think that it's not completely wholesome.

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message 15: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (last edited Dec 26, 2017 05:12PM) (new)

Dec 26, 2017 05:10PM

All any Listopia is, is a popularity poll, among those people who choose to vote on it.

Also, there's such a thing as authors, or their fans, "bombing" a list. (Not saying that's happened here; but it does happen, and more often than you might think.) One sign of that can be, if the number of votes is a large percentage (and in some cases more than 100%) of those who have rated the book.

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message 16: by Joel (new)

Dec 26, 2017 05:30PM

Yes, I'd suspect some "bombing" going on here. Perhaps some of the voters were directed here from certain online forums? I also tend to be suspicious of the ratings on some books of a political nature that I know as a fact to be excellent books, but are vilified by politically motivated groups. If you actually read through some of the reviews, most of the one-star reviews are people saying "I hated this book because I disagree with the author's politics". Also, you tend to find this with books that are well known or have gotten lots of attention in the political arena, but then if you look at that same author's other books, they are rated higher, but are not as good. I can give you specific examples, but then I'd be forced to bring up specific political issues, so I'd rather not. Anyways, it's a shame that this has to turn into a political game, but apparently, that's what's happening here.

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message 17: by Susanna - Censored by GoodReads (new)

Dec 26, 2017 05:58PM

A vast majority of the bombing used to be authors voting their own books onto lists (in many cases when it had nothing to do with the list topic), so GR made that impossible. Now we have rings of authors who vote each other's books on. (Fans are another matter. Are we not all fans of the books we rate highly? The ones here that are "suspicious" are those voted onto a lot of lists in a short time, by people who don't vote for anything else. In those cases, the agenda is clear. I haven't seen much of that, at least, on this list; it's pretty obvious when you get to know the signs. I speak as a Listopia addict.)

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message 18: by Joel (new)

Dec 26, 2017 06:30PM

Here's another list with many more votes, so trends become more obvious:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2...

Now scroll through that list starting from the beginning and stop at the books that have fewer than 1,000 ratings:

Churchill's Secret War
Als die Soldaten kamen
1939 - The War That Had Many Fathers
Hiroshima Diary
Blood in Zion
Churchill, Hitler and "The Unnecessary War"

Notice anything?

All are anti-Allies, and all appear high on this list too. (And the only book NOT on this list is Blood in Zion - and I'm sure I don't have to explain the political motivations behind that book.)

I haven't done an analysis of the actual voters on those books - I will later when I have more time - but I expect that to reveal a pattern too.

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message 19: by Joel (last edited Dec 26, 2017 06:38PM) (new)

Dec 26, 2017 06:36PM

Emma, Alain, Jan, Guy, Adam, Alfred, Richard, John, Martin.... hmmm... I'm definitely detecting a pattern here.

All these people voted for the "offensive" books, but not the other mainstay classics like Diary of a Young Girl, Band of Brothers, The Longest Day...

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message 20: by Joel (new)

Dec 26, 2017 06:41PM

The other list seems to exhibit the same patters. And there are some characters that appear on both list just in the offensive books: OlafG, Bert, and Richard...

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message 21: by Joel (last edited Dec 26, 2017 06:54PM) (new)

Dec 26, 2017 06:52PM

Hmmm... and all these people have voted for roughly the same list of books:

Panzer Leader by Heinz Guderian, Rommel by David Irving (holocaust denier), Rommel by Desmond Young, Knight's Cross: A Life of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel by David Fraser, Panzer Commander: The Memoirs of Colonel Hans von Luck by Hans von Luck...

And they ALL have their profiles private - which is not true for most of the voters on the other books. And they all have about 7-14 friends and about 200-300 books, and ZERO reviews.

And the same pattern repeats for the suspicious voters on that other list - OlafG, Mag, Veronica...

Yup, I think I can safely conclude that there are people here with an agenda who are rigging these polls.

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message 22: by Heidi (new)

Dec 26, 2017 06:59PM

Since when do you have the right to decide whether a particular book is "offensive" or not?

Just because you dis-like Patrick Buchanan.

As long as a book is not totally pro-Hitler, it has the right to be on here.

You claim to believe in free speech, you do NOT believe in free speech.

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message 23: by Joel (new)

Dec 26, 2017 08:22PM

Heidi wrote: "Since when do you have the right to decide whether a particular book is "offensive" or not?

Just because you dis-like Patrick Buchanan.

As long as a book is not totally pro-Hitler, it has the r..."

I'm not talking about whether a like or dislike the book, or whether it has the right to be here... This is not a free speech issue.

I'm just illustrating that the poll is rigged by people with a very specific agenda (anti-West, pro-Axis, Anti-Semitic...)

This has a name - it's called astro-turfing. I'm not making a judgement about Pat Buchanan's thesis. I'm just showing (with the patterns I exposed in my comments above) that this list has been bombed by people who are trying to putsch (oops, did I mis-spell that?) a very specific agenda and make it look "grass-roots".

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message 24: by Elyse (new)

Aug 27, 2019 01:30PM