Alexandria Wyckoff
While there are plenty of films and books about World War II out there, some of the best content about the war is real accounts of the battles and the soldiers. Each year, new nonfiction World War II books are published, pulling back the covers on one of the deadliest wars in history. Ranging from all parts of the war, dive into the world’s history with these six best nonfiction World War II books.
6. Big Week by James Holland
Starting our list of nonfiction World War II books is Big Week by James Holland. In February 1944, Allied air forces launched Operation Argument, the biggest air battle and aerial assault of the war, targeting the Nazi war machine. Now known as the “Big Week,” the assault had a huge impact on the war. Holland reveals details about the conflict from both sides and how it prepared the Allies for the Battle of Normandy.
5. Escape from Sobibor by Richard Rashke
Fifth on our list of the best nonfiction World War II books is Escape from Sobibor by Richard Rashke. Lecturer and author Rashke retells the Sobibor uprising. On October 14th, 1943, 600 Jewish prisoners at a secret Nazi concentration camp in eastern Poland revolted and killed 12 SS officers, overpowered the camp guards, and fled across an open mine field to the woods. 300 of them made it into the forest, and 50 of them survived the war. The book is based on interviews with 18 of the survivors.
4. Lady Death by Lyudmila Pavlichenko
Next on our list of the best nonfiction World War II books is Lady Death by Lyudmila Pavlichenko. When the war broke out, Pavlichenko left university and joined the war effort as a sniper for Russia’s Red Army. She would turn into the most successful female sniper in recorded history and is still honored in Russia today. Her memoir dives into her life choices, from university to sniper to women’s rights advocate after the war.
3. The Miracle of Dunkirk by Walter Lord
Rounding out the top three best nonfiction World War II books is The Miracle of Dunkirk by Walter Lord. The inspiration for Christopher Nolan’s film Dunkirk, Lord’s account of Operation Dynamo, is a must-read for World War II lovers. Lord’s prose is combined with survivor interviews and eye-witness reports, painting a picture of the 1940 evacuation of around 338,000 Allied soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk as the Nazis close in.
2. Hiroshima by John Hersey
Second on our list of the best nonfiction World War II books is Hiroshima by John Hersey. The book was first published in the August 31st, 1946 issue of The New Yorker. The New Journalism piece explored the lives of six survivors of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. It was the first full account of the horrors of nuclear warfare, and it impacted the debate over nuclear weapons in the future.
1. The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan
Last but not least on our list of the best nonfiction World War II books is The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan. Using interviews with more than 1,100 D-Day survivors to create the book, it recounts the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6th, 1944. Ryan experienced the battle firsthand as a reporter for the Daily Telegraph. Fifteen years after the event, he decided to reveal what actually happened during D-Day, from the smallest to the largest of details.