Ww2 spy novels1/1/2024 ![]() ![]() But that’s only half of the 160 million books Follett has sold since the publication of his first novel in 1974. They’ve reportedly sold more than 80 million copies around the world. Together, the three books run to nearly 3,000 pages (and a fourth, a more recent prequel, takes the total to nearly 4,000). Read those best World War II novels? Other suggestions for best World War II novels would include books by Jeff Shaara, Alistair MacLean, Steven Pressfield, William Peter Grasso, Griff Hosker, Mark Ellis, Norman Mailer, William Styron, and Robert Harris.British author Ken Follett is best known to a wide public these days for the Kingsbridge Trilogy, his mammoth multi-generational account of an English cathedral town. ![]() Tough and competent, they are basically decent men with no choice but to serve a very bad cause. Tthe German parachutists depicted in the novel, on whom much of the WWII story also focuses, are reminiscent of those in THE EAGLE HAS LANDED. For me as a reader, what makes this novel fascinating is the storyline about the female Russian sniper sent to assassinate a nefarious German leader. Anyone familiar with Swagger knows how that turns out for the bad guys. Not everyone is happy about Swagger’s pursuit of the past and these malevolent forces try to stop him, violently. Set with alternating viewpoints in the WWII past and the present day, this thriller features the well-known sniper Bob Lee Swagger, this time on the trail of a little-known WWII female Russian sniper. This novel has one of my favorite chapter openings, “He was an old man in a dry month.” But not too old or too dry, as it turns out. The main character is an “everyman” college professor thrust into the high stakes game of winning the war. The title seems better suited to a cozy mystery than to a high stakes thriller wrapped around the war of deception surrounding the D-Day invasion, but this story twists and turns like a rat’s maze to the point that you don’t know who to trust. This best-selling author is best-known for his series featuring Israeli assassin Gabriel Allon, but my introduction to Silva was this early WWII espionage novel. Zaitsev’s nemesis is a German sniper sent to eliminate him, resulting in a tense game of cat and mouse between the two marksmen while a much larger battles rages around them. You may be familiar with the similar story told in the film, ENEMY AT THE GATES, but what makes this sniper novel so much better is the POV glimpse into the minds of these urban hunters. Suffice it to say that the title is apt, considering that German and Russian snipers fight a vicious battle through the ruined city on the Volga River. Like Dunkirk or Kursk, Stalingrad was a battle that did not involve Americans, so on the whole we don’t know much about it. Hands down one of the best sniper tales ever written, with one of the bleakest settings, this novel tells the story of real-life Russian sniper Vasily Zaitsev at the battle of Stalingrad. What makes this book so intriguing is that because it is written from the perspective of the German commandos and IRA operative Liam Devlin, it’s not the German soldiers who are the bad guys, but the English. Of course, we readers know from the outset that Churchill was not assassinated. The plot centers around a crack team of German commandos who parachute into England to assassinate Winston Churchill. A WWII action thriller not apparently not the sort of novel she had in mind for a book report, and I think I got a B-, but the novel itself deserves an A. This is a novel that I read way back in high school, and wrote a book report for in Mrs. I keep a battered copy on my desk and dip into it from time to time when I need a good shudder. Although this novel is set in WWII, the espionage factor here is really secondary to the fact that this is a ripping good pyschological thriller. This novel features a German agent who just so happens to be a diabolical and ruthless killer, pursued by an interesting British sleuth, and ultimately brought to ground by the wife of a sheep farmer. Here are a few favorites that never disappoint when in the mood for a good WWII story that you can sink your teeth into. I can also think of a few authors whom I wished wrote WWII stories: Bernard Cornwell for starters, and maybe even John Sandford. ![]() Sometimes we feel like an action novel, and sometimes we feel all into espionage. Sometimes we feel like steak, and sometimes we feel like shrimp. One of the problems with creating a list of best World War II novels is that it can vary according to what we’re in the mood to read. What’s in your haversack? A few of the best World War II novels ![]()
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