Category: World War II

October 6, 2025

When the Sea Came Alive by Garrett M. Graff *** (of 4)

Graft brings to life one day in a very long war. On June 6th, 1944, Allied Forces landed on the beaches of Normandy, France and began to push back Germans from their fortified Atlantic Wall. Graff’s account is delivered entirely with quotations. The recollections of participants give the invasion intense immediacy.

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June 17, 2025

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys **** (of 4)

There is no shortage of books describing the horrors of war, which makes this novel of World War II refugees so remarkable for its riveting...

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May 1, 2025

Bomb by Steve Sheinkin *** (of 4)

A young adult award winning (Newberry Honor, Sibert Medal) account of the making of the world’s first nuclear bomb and attempts by the Russians to...

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July 25, 2024

Goodnight Irene, by Luis Alberto Urrea **** (of 4)

Based on accounts from the author’s mother, Luis Alberto Urrea has created a fictional account of two young women who volunteer for the Red Cross...

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February 8, 2024

Fatherland by Burkhard Bilger *** (of 4)

Burkhard Bilger is a German-American, accomplished author and writer for the New Yorker, and the right age to have a grandfather who was a Nazi....

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September 19, 2023

Properties of Thirst by Marianne Wiggins *** (of 4)

An ambitious book that centers the Owen’s Valley in California, the valley’s desertification following rerouting all of the valley’s water to Los Angeles, and the...

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February 2, 2023

People Love Dead Jews by Dara Horn **** (of 4)

In a series of essays, no not essays, but rather really well-done rants, Dara Horn made me pause and reconsider a lot of what I...

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December 7, 2022

Ultra by Rachel Maddow **** (of 4)

Not a book or, at least, not yet a book, but a podcast. The genius of the production is that it is ostensibly a recounting...

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April 27, 2022

The Eagle’s Claw: A Novel of the Battle of Midway by Jeffrey Shaara *** (of 4)

Ostensibly, the single battle that shaped the outcome of WW II (of which, there are no doubt many such single battles bearing that accolade), is...

America

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March 23, 2022

Looking for the Good War by Elizabeth Samet *** (of 4)

An onion of a book, not just because it can bring you to tears, but because of its layers. In the outer layer, Samet re-describes...

America

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