Strategy, Campaign, or Battle Books
An Army at Dawn: The War in Africa, 1942-1943 (2002), by Rick Atkinson
At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor (1981), by Gordon William Prange
The Battle of Leyte Gulf: 23-26 October 1944 (1994), by Thomas J. Cutler
A Bridge Too Far (1974), by Cornelius Ryan
Commander in Chief: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, His Lieutenants and Their War (1987), by Eric Larrabee
Day of Infamy: The Whole Story of Pearl Harbor (1957), by Walter Lord
D-Day: June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II (1994), by Stephen E. Ambrose
Decision in Normandy (1983), by Carlo D'Este
Defeat into Victory: Battling Japan in Burma and India, 1942-1945 (1956), by Field Marshal Viscount Slim
Eagle Against the Sun: The American War With Japan (1984), by Ronald Spector
Eisenhower's Lieutenants: The Campaign of France and Germany 1944-45 (1981), by Russell F. Weigley
The Greatest Generation (1998), by Tom Brokaw
The Longest Day: June 6, 1944 (1959), by Cornelius Ryan
Miracle at Midway (1982), by Gordon William Prange
Panzer Battles: A Study of the Employment of Armor in the Second World War (1955), by F.W. von Mellenthin
The Path to Victory: The Mediterranean Theater in World War II (2004), by Douglas Porch
The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945 (1970), by John Toland
Russia's War: A History of the Soviet War Effort: 1941-1945 (1998), by Richard Overy
The Second World War (1948-53), by Winston S. Churchill
Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War against Japan (1975), by Clay Blair Jr.
Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege, 1942-1943 (1998), by Antony Beevor
A Time for Trumpets: The Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge (1985), by Charles B. MacDonald
To Lose a Battle: France 1940 (1969), by Alistair Horne
The Two-Ocean War: A Short History of the United States Navy in the Second World War (1963), by Samuel Eliot Morison
A War to Be Won: Fighting the Second World War (2000), by Williamson Murray and Allan R. Millett
Why the Allies Won (1996), by Richard Overy
U.S. Armed Services Histories
The Army Air Forces in World War II, 7 volumes, by W.F. Craven and J.L. Cate
History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, 15 volumes, by Samuel Eliot Morison
History of U.S. Marine Corps Operations in World War II, 5 volumes, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps
United States Army in World War II, 75 volumes, Office of the Chief of Military History
Personal Accounts or Unit Histories
Baa Baa Black Sheep (1958), by Gregory "Pappy" Boyington
Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hilter's Eagle's Nest (1992), by Stephen E. Ambrose
Battleship Sailor (1982), by Theodore C. Mason
Brave Men (1944), by Ernie Pyle
Company Commander (1947), by Charles B. MacDonald
Novels
Crossing the Line: A Bluejacket's World War II Odyssey (1994), by Alvin Kernan
The Forgotten Soldier (1971), by Guy Sajer
Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War (1980), by William Manchester
Guadalcanal Diary (1943), by Richard Tregaskis
Iron Coffins: A Personal Account of the German U-boat Battles of World War II (1969), by Herbert A. Werner
Pacific War Diary, 1942-1945: The Secret Diary of an American Sailor (1963), by James J. Fahey
Quartered Safe Out Here: A Recollection of the War in Burma (1992), by George MacDonald Fraser
Roll Me Over: An Infantryman's World War II (1997), by Raymond Gantter
Soldat: Reflections of a German Soldier, 1936-1949 (1992), by Siegfried Knappe
They Were Expendable: An American Torpedo Boat Squadron in the U.S. Retreat from the Philippines (1942), by W.L. White.
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1943), by Ted W. Lawson
To Hell and Back (1949), by Audie Murphy
Up Front (1945), by Bill Mauldin
With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa (1981), by Eugene B. Sledge
Battle Cry (1953), by Leon Uris
The Caine Mutiny: A Novel of World War II (1951), by Herman Wouk
Catch-22 (1961), by Joseph Heller
The Cruel Sea (1951), by Nicholas Monsarrat
From Here to Eternity (1951), by James Jones
Mister Roberts (1946), by Thomas Heggen
The Naked and the Dead (1948), by Norman Mailer
Once an Eagle (1968), by Anton Myrer
Run Silent, Run Deep (1955), by Edward L. Beach
Slaughterhouse-Five: or the Children's Crusade (1969), by Kurt Vonnegut
Tales of the South Pacific (1947), by James A. Michener
War and Remembrance (1978), by Herman Wouk
The War Lover (1959), by John Hersey
The Winds of War (1971), by Herman Wouk
The Young Lions (1948), by Irwin Shaw
Movies
Back to Bataan (1945)
Battle Cry (1955)
Battleground (1949)
The Battle of Britain (1969)
The Big Red One (1980)
Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
The Caine Mutiny (1954)
Cross of Iron (1976)
Catch-22 (1970)
Das Boot (1981)
The Dirty Dozen (1967)
Enemy Below (1967)
From Here to Eternity (1953)
The Great Escape (1963)
Guadalcanal Diary (1943)
The Guns of Navarone (1961)
Hell Is for Heroes (1962)
In Harm's Way (1965)
King Rat (1965)
The Longest Day (1962)
Memphis Belle (1990)
Mister Roberts (1955)
Objective Burma (1945)
Patton (1970)
Run Silent, Run Deep (1958)
Sahara (1943)
Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Sink the Bismarck! (1960)
Stalag 17 (1953)
The Story of G.I. Joe (1945)
They Were Expendable (1945)
Thirty Seconds over Tokyo (1944)
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
Twelve O'Clock High (1949)
Wake Island (1942)
Where Eagles Dare (1968)
Documentaries or Series
Band of Brothers (2001)
The Fighting Lady (1944)
Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress (1944)
Victory at Sea (1952)
The World at War (1974)
What Do You Think?
Please send your opinions of our choices, along with your own favorites, to World War II Picks, Naval History Magazine, U.S. Naval Institute, 291 Wood Road, Annapolis, MD 21402. Or, e-mail us at [email protected].
The following World War II histories and accounts are currently available from the Naval Institute Press:
- The Battle of Leyte Gulf: 23-26 October 1944
- Battleship Sailor
- Commander in Chief: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, His Lieutenants and Their War
- Run Silent, Run Deep
- Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War against Japan
- They Were Expendable: An American Torpedo Boat Squadron in the U.S. Retreat from the Philippines