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        • Return to British Rule
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        • The Employment of the Bacteriological Weapon in the War
        • Planning of Japan invasion to USSR
      • Unit 731 Cover-up : The Operation Paperclip of the East - Guide >
        • Establishing Manchukuo
        • The Development of Unit 731
        • Plan Kantokuen and Bacteriological Warfare
        • The Downfall of the Japanese WW2 Era
        • Three Stages of Interrogations
        • Lasting Impacts
      • Marutas of Unit 731 - Guide >
        • How did Ishii Shiro start unit 731?
        • A Beta Testing Site
        • Establishing Pingfan
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Literature about WW2

5/23/2019

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by Nickii Wantakan Arcado
Picture
With the recent conclusion of the 2019 Bay Area Book Festival in Berkeley, California, it was a given that we would want to suggest novels that are about or have been inspired by events during World War II. We hope the list below piques your interests just as it did ours.
All the Light You Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
A personal favorite of mine, All the Light You Cannot See is the story about a blind, female heroine named Marie-Laure and orphan, Werner Pfennig, and how their lives cross paths during the final days of the war. Uniquely written in two perspectives, the title of the novel is also a double entendre; the light that our female heroine cannot physically see as well as the motif of radio waves prominent throughout the novel.
Literature about ww2: All the Light You Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Literature about ww2: Catch-22 by Joseph Kelle
Catch-22 by Joseph Keller
Known as one of the greatest novels of the 20th century, Catch-22
is a satirical (somewhat black comedy) novel on Captain John Yossarian, an American bombardier whose growing paranoia causes him both the war as a personal attack against him. The novel is told from a non-chronological third-person omniscient narration, jumping back and forth between various timelines yet closely following John’s attempts at escaping from his military missions. The title has been memorialized as a logical paradox in which an individual, regardless of their choices, are unable to escape due to contradictory rules and/or limitations in their situation.

Literature about ww2: The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang
The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang
The Rape of Nanking is the true story of the horrors of December 1937: The day the Japanese Imperial Army invaded the city of Nanjing and systematically tortured, raped and massacred more than 300,o00 Chinese civilians. Author Iris Chang frames the novel in three distinctive perspectives; the Japanese soldiers who engaged in the acts, the Chinese civilians who endured and fought for survival, and the Europeans and Americans soldiers who sought to take back the city. The novel consists of interviews and previously unpublished Chinese narratives, reminding readers of the forgotten holocaust that some government officials and educational institutions wish to deny.
Literature about ww2: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows
Set during post World War II London, Juliet Ashton goes on an adventure to the island of Guernsey, where she finds the next subject of her new book-- a native man from the island along with the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. As the story progresses, Juliet not only begins learning about the impact the German occupation had on the island and its inhabitants but learns more about herself as a writer during the process.

Literature about ww2: Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
One of the weirdest books on the list if I do say so myself, Slaughterhouse-Five is packed with everything from bombings to aliens. The novel is centered around Billy Pilgrim, whose abduction by aliens plunges him through an odyssey of time to relive his past memories as a serviceman during the war. Chosen as one of the 100 best novels of all time by the Modern Library, the novel is undoubtedly anti-war, utilizing the infamous Dresden firebombing as its backdrop as well as serving as a metaphor for Vonnegut’s own experience as a prisoner of war.

Small Island by Andrea Levy
Gilbert Joseph returns to London, hoping that his five-year service in the British Air Force would help expand his economic opportunities and career paths and serve as a welcoming home for his newlywed wife Hortense Joseph. Despite his military achievements and his sacrifices, Gilbert is met with reality living as a Jamaican, black man in 1940s London; xenophobia, prejudice, and racial discrimination.
Literature about ww2: Small Island by Andrea Levy
Literature about ww2: A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell
A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell
September 8, 1943. 14-year-old Claudette Blum, her father, and thousands of other Jewish refugees march towards the Alps towards Italy hoping to find safety with the news that the Italians have broken with the Germans. But Claudette soon realized that while by day, the country offers the hope for solace, by night, Italy becomes battleground fought between Nazis, Allies, resistance fighters, and everyone in between fighting for survival. 

The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak
Told from the perspective of ‘Death’ (known as the story’s collector of souls) Liesel Meminger’s life turns upside down when she meets and befriends Max Vandenburg, a Jew who her foster parents have hidden in their basement since the onslaught of the Nazi regime. As she begins stealing books that the Nazis sought to destroy, Liesel not only begins to learn how to read but begins writing her narrative as a child caught between her innocence and her growing understanding and maturity of the realities of war.
Literature about ww2: The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak
Literature about ww2: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
When Bruno’s father is promoted to Commandant by the Nazi Regime, Bruno packs up his belongings and relocates to a faraway place with no kids and tall fence separating him from “the other side”. While exploring his new environment, Bruno meets a boy with striped pajamas Shmuel (who, unbeknownst to Bruno, is actually a concentration camp inmate). From there on, an unlikely, and forbidden friendship begin to blossom between the two boys whose background couldn’t be more different. This novel, as well as it’s 2008 movie adaptation will undoubtedly have you in tears, both with Bruno and Shmuel’s life circumstances and the detriments that war has on innocent minds.

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  • Home
    • About >
      • FAQ's - Frequently Asked Questions
    • Support Us >
      • Projects you can support! >
        • Distributing Books
        • Presenting at 112th Annual Meeting of Pacific Coast Branch
        • Summer Research Relocation Fund
    • Contact
  • Stories
    • Videos >
      • Black Hearts (2021)
    • Blog
    • Podcast: Forgotten History
  • Internship
    • Summer 2023 Internship
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    • Summer 2022 Internship
    • Summer 2021 Internship
    • Fall 2020- Spring 2021 Internship
    • Summer 2020 Internship
    • Fall 2019 Internship
    • Summer 2019 Internship >
      • Public History Night
    • School Year 2018-2019 Internship
    • Summer 2018 Internship >
      • 2018 Summer Showcase + Fundraiser
    • Fall 2017 Internship
    • Summer 2017 Internship >
      • 2017 Summer Showcase & Fundraiser
  • Books
  • Archives
  • Resource Page
    • Supplementary Research Guides >
      • Unit 731 - Guide >
        • Background of Biochemical Warfare Development
        • Imperial Japan's Chemical Warfare Development Program
        • Map of Unit 731
        • Personnel of Unit 731
        • Duties of Unit 731
        • Human Experimentation
        • [GRAPHIC] Germ Warfare Attacks
        • Cover Ups After the War
        • [OLD] Cover Ups After the War
      • Philippines' Resistance - Guide >
        • Philippines World War II Timeline
        • The Japanese Invasion & Conquest of the Philippines
        • Bataan Death March
        • Formation of Underground Philippines Resistance
        • Supplies of the Guerrilla Fighters
        • The Hukbalahap
        • Hunter's ROTC
        • Marking's Guerrillas
        • United States Army Forces in the Philippines of Northern Luzon (USAFIP-NL)
        • The Aetas
        • Chinese and Filipino-Chinese Nationalist Guerrilla Units
        • The Female Faces of the Philippine Guerrillas
      • Rising Sun Flag - Guide >
        • History of the Rising Sun Flag
        • Atrocities Committed Under the Flag
        • Rising Sun Flag in Pop Culture
      • Pinay Guerrilleras - Guide >
        • Japanese Occupation of the Philippine Islands: Pinays Answering the Call to Arms
        • The Fierce Heneralas and Kumanders of the Hukbalahap Guerrillas
        • Amazons of the Pacific Theater
        • Filipina American Veterans: Recovering the Extraordinary Feats of the Ordinary Pinays
        • The Legacy of the Asian Women Soldier
      • Fall of Singapore - Guide >
        • Singapore World War II Timeline
        • History of World War II in the Pacific
        • History of Singapore
        • Japan's Conquest in Asia
        • Japan's Invasion of the Malay Peninsula
        • Sook Ching Massacre
        • Double Tenth Incident
        • Social Changes and Challenges in Singapore
        • Voices from Syonan
        • Return to British Rule
      • Three Years and Eight Months - Guide >
        • Hong Kong before WW2
        • Buildup to World War 2
        • The Battle of Hong Kong
        • Life during 3 Years and 8 Months
        • East River Column Guerrilla Fighters
        • Prisoners of War Camps
        • End of Japanese Occupation
        • War Crimes Trials
      • Siamese Sovereignty - Guide >
        • The Land of Smiles
        • The Thai-Japanese Relationship
        • Phibun’s Domestic and International Policies
        • The Free Thai Resistance Movement
        • Post WW2 Aftermath of Thailand
      • The Khabarovsk War Crimes Trial - Guide >
        • Defendants of Khabarovsk War Crime
        • The Japanese Empire and USSR in WW2
        • The Employment of the Bacteriological Weapon in the War
        • Planning of Japan invasion to USSR
      • Unit 731 Cover-up : The Operation Paperclip of the East - Guide >
        • Establishing Manchukuo
        • The Development of Unit 731
        • Plan Kantokuen and Bacteriological Warfare
        • The Downfall of the Japanese WW2 Era
        • Three Stages of Interrogations
        • Lasting Impacts
      • Marutas of Unit 731 - Guide >
        • How did Ishii Shiro start unit 731?
        • A Beta Testing Site
        • Establishing Pingfan
        • Experiences at the Human Experimentation Complex
        • Vivisection at the Unit 731
        • Anta Testing Grounds
        • Overall Advance from the Laboratory Creations
        • The End of the War
      • Prince Konoe Memoir - Guide >
        • Who is Prince Konoe?
        • Preparation to Tripartite Pact
        • Emperor Hirohito and Prince Konoe
        • The End of Prince Konoe
      • Competing Empires in Burma - Guide >
        • What was the China-Burma-India Theater?
        • When did the China-Burma-India Theater Happen?
        • Who Fought in the China-Burma-India Theater?
        • The Second Sino Japanese War
        • Japan in the South
        • Operation U-Go
      • Battle of Shanghai - Guide >
        • The Battle of Shanghai. Background
        • Shanghai Before War
        • The First Battle of Shanghai 1932
        • Battle of Shanghai 1937
        • Aftermath of Battle for Shanghai
      • Ishi Shiro - Guide >
        • History of Biological Weapons and The Young Ishii Shiro
        • Establishment in Manchuria
        • Pingfang District - Harbin
        • Failures and Corruption
        • Post War
      • Taiwan The Israel of the East - Guide >
        • Background of Formosa
        • Industrialization of Japan
        • China During WWII
        • Taiwan under Kuomintang
        • New Taiwanese National Identity
      • Seeking Justice for Biological Warfare Victims of Unit 731 - Guide >
        • Introduction of Wang Xuan
        • Colonel Memorandum
        • The Beginning of Biological Warfare
        • The Bacteriological Warfare on China
        • Victims in Zhejiang’s Testimonies
        • After the War
      • Rice and Revolution - Guide >
        • The French Colonial Period
        • Anti-Colonial Resistance
        • The Rise of the Communist Movement
        • Imperial Japan’s Entry into Indochina
        • The Portents of Famine
        • The Famine (1944-45)
        • Legacy of the 1944-45 Vietnam Famine
      • Clash of Empires - Guide >
        • Japan’s Imperialist Origins
        • Japan’s Competition against the West: Nanshin-ron and Hokushin-ron
        • Japanese Imperialism Through the Lens of French Indochina
        • The U.S.-Japan Relations and the Pearl Harbor Attack
      • Hunger for Power and Self-SufficiencyI - Guide >
        • The Influence of War Rations on Post-War Culinary Transformations
        • How World War II Complicated Food Scarcity and Invention
        • American Military Innovations
        • Government-Sponsored Food Inventions in Europe during World War II
        • Feeding the Army: The Adaptation of Japanese Military Cuisine and Its Impact on the Philippines
        • Mixed Dishes: Culinary Innovations Driven by Necessity and Food Scarcity
    • Lesson Plans >
      • Reparations
      • Ethics in Science
      • Writing the Narrative of a Pinay Fighter
      • Privilege Journal
      • Environmental Injustices
      • Female Guerrillas
      • Hunter's ROTC
      • Scientific Advancements
      • Seeking Justice: A Humanities Lesson Plan
      • The Hukbalahap
      • Trading Immunity
      • Bataan Death March
      • Biochemical Warfare Development
Contribute