48 Excellent World War II Novels

This installment of the Riot Recommendation is sponsored by The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure. Like most gentiles in Nazi-occupied Paris, architect Lucien Bernard has little empathy for the Jews. So when a wealthy industrialist offers him a large sum of money to devise secret hiding places for Jews, Lucien struggles with the choice of risking his life for a cause he doesn’t really believe in. Ultimately he can’t resist the challenge and begins designing expertly concealed hiding spaces—behind a painting, within a column, or inside a drainpipe—detecting possibilities invisible to the average eye. But when one of his clever hiding spaces fails horribly and the immense suffering of Jews becomes incredibly personal, he can no longer deny reality.

Written by an expert whose knowledge imbues every page, this story becomes more gripping with every life the architect tries to save. ____________________ Last week, we asked you to tell us your favorite fiction about World War II. Your recommendations covered every aspect of the war. Let’s dig in to over 48 World War II novels: The Losing Role by Steve Anderson City of Thieves by David Benioff The Postmistress by Sarah Blake Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum The Bridge Over the River Kwai by Pierre Boulle The Boat by Lothar-Gunther Buchheim The Gallery by John Horne Burns Mare’s War by Tanita S Davis All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan Jackdaws by Ken Follett City of Women by David R Gillham Americans in Paris by Charles Glass Stones From The River by Ursula Hegi Catch-22 by Joseph Heller A Separate Peace by John Knowles In The Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson The Periodic Table by Primo Levi The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell Number the Stars by Lois Lowry Goodnight, Mr. Tom by Michelle Magorian The Guns of Navarone by Alistair Maclean Fortunes of War by Olivia Manning The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer The Shawl by Cynthia Ozick A Long Long Time Ago & Essentially True by Brigid Pasulka Gone to Soldiers by Marge Piercy A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell Early One Morning by Robert Ryan The Gurnsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schafer Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith A Pledge of Silence by Flora J. Solomon Maus by Art Spiegelman The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut The Night Watch by Sarah Waters The Sword of Honor trilogy by Evelyn Waugh Code Name: Verity by Elizabeth Wein Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein A Midnight Clear by William Wharton All Clear by Connie Willis Blackout by Connie Willis Someone Named Eva by Joan M. Wolf The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk The Winds of War by Herman Wouk War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk The Book Thief by Markus Zusak