My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Find your new favourite book or recommend one on our Book forum.

What we're reading

Books Set In WW2

113 replies

LouReidPark · 01/06/2023 11:13

What are your favourite books set in WW2?

I liked a few as a child - Carrie's War, the Judith Kerr series and I've read a couple I liked as an adult - Dear Mrs Bird, The Frequency Of Us and The Night Watch.

Looking for recommendations for more. TIA

OP posts:
Report
PotteringAlonggotkickedoutandhadtoreregister · 01/06/2023 11:15

All the light we cannot see - Anthony Doerr.

oh my word, what a book!

Report
NooNakedJacuzziness · 01/06/2023 11:16

The Book Thief

Report
PotteringAlonggotkickedoutandhadtoreregister · 01/06/2023 11:16

Also really enjoyed “yours cheerfully” - AJ Pearce. A very different book!

Report
Greenbeanmcgee · 01/06/2023 11:18

The New Mrs Clifton by Elizabeth Buchan.

Report
Luckyboo · 01/06/2023 11:18

I enjoyed The Code Girls and The Bomb Girls series by Daisy Styles plus The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. Oh and of course Goodnight Mister Tom

Report
Neighneigh · 01/06/2023 11:21

Another vote for All The Light We Cannot See!

Report
StrictlyAFemaleFemale · 01/06/2023 11:23

Goodnight Mr Tom
Number the Stars

Both children's books.

Report
tinytemper66 · 01/06/2023 11:24

Never forget you. About Noor the first Muslim woman who became a SOE in France.

Report
Bigpinkslippers · 01/06/2023 11:26

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

Report
Seeline · 01/06/2023 11:26

Probably a bit old fashioned now but RF Delderfield wrote several books that covered the period of the second World War.
Diana
The Avenue Goes to War and The Dreaming Suburbs - both based around the same characters living in the suburbs of South London.

Report
LieutenantColonel · 01/06/2023 11:28

Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher. Lots of detail about life in the war, great plot and just the right level of trauma (ie not ignoring the difficulties but not trauma porn)

Report
yoshiblue · 01/06/2023 12:29

Definitely All The Light We Cannot see!

Report
SadCelticBunny · 01/06/2023 12:36

I have recently listened to the Josephine Fox series by Claire Gradidge and really enjoyed them.
I liked the details of the social mores and norms of the time and always think a bit of detective work adds to a story.

I read The White Lady by Jacqueline Winspear this week, it covers both world wars.

Report
SpikeWithoutASoul · 01/06/2023 12:39

Lissa Evans wrote a trilogy of books set in wwii: V for Victory, Crooked Heart and Old Baggage. They are among my favourite books. Just brilliant.

Report
Riverlee · 01/06/2023 13:17

Dolphin Crossing - Jill Paton Smith
Machine Gunners - Robert Westall

Both children’s books I read in ‘Fourth year juniors’ which I love (and still have.

Secret Hunters - Ranulph Fiends - this book has stayed with me, as it shows how ordernary people acted during the war in Germany and let or were powerless to prevent the horrors happening.

Report
Riverlee · 01/06/2023 13:18

Blitz on Balaclava street - read when I was 16 about a 17 year old during the war - loved it and just purchased the book to re-read. Haven’t read it since I was around twenty (now middle aged).

Report
Saucery · 01/06/2023 13:22

In addition to the Lissa Evans trilogy above, she also wrote Their Finest (Hour And A Half) about the making of a morale-boosting war film in 1940. It’s very funny in places but doesn’t pull any emotional punches.

Report
Wisenotboring · 01/06/2023 13:22

I second Coming Home and Goodnight Mr Tom. Also, Back Home by Michelle Magorian...not sure of spelling

Report
PhantomErik · 01/06/2023 13:30

I love all the Elizabeth Elgin books, mostly set around the women's roles during that time & have recently been reading a series by Fenella J Miller which is also quite good (not as good as Elgin though in my opinion).

Report
PerryMenno · 01/06/2023 13:31

Catch 22

Report
cormorant5 · 01/06/2023 13:52

The German War by Nicholas Stargardt
Stargardt is a historian, his book describes life in Germany during the war from documents newspapers and letters written by the German people as they lived their ordinary lives.
He also wrote about The German Children, mostly from their letters I think.
Very Challenging!

Report
CrumpetsandJammmm · 01/06/2023 13:55

Does Life After Life count? So much of it is set in WW2. Adore that book.

Report
HomeCountyHome · 01/06/2023 13:57

Mary Wesley’s Camomile Lawn.

Report
MarmotMorning · 01/06/2023 14:01

Tom Palmer has written some excellent ww1 and ww2 fiction for kids. Highly recommended.

Report
mysonsmother82 · 01/06/2023 14:08

Trust Me by Lesley Pearce. It's set just after ww2 and is a story about the children sent to Australia for a better life after the war. It's fiction but such a good read.

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.