# Best war novel **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 21, 2002, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-novel/110192 "2002-05-21T22:46:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-novel/110192/1 "2002-05-21T22:46:43Z")
In another thread in _Cafe Society_ I noticed an OP comparing two discriptions of war by famous authors and asking which was better. I am not crazy about either so I did not voice an opinion, but it did get me to thinking and rather than attempt a hijack, I started this new thread. Granted, I’m not sure what makes a “good” war novel. Graphic violence, no, I don’t think so. It may turn on the teeny boppers, but that’s not a good novel. Then maybe deep introspection while the protagonist faces death? Nah, too intellectual. But really, I’m not sure what it would be. I originally thought of Leon Uris’ **Battle Cry** or Norman Mailer’s **Naked and the Dead**. Or even Dalton Trumbo’s **Johnny Got His Gun** , but finally, I finally settled on Michner’s **Tales of the South Pacific** and felt that was the best at least in my mind (at least so far - I know one of you people will probably change my mind). Still it reminded me of what war was like for me at times and kept my attention and kept me entertained. TV ---
**Author:** ![OfBlinkingThings](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ebca7d/32.png) [@OfBlinkingThings](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OfBlinkingThings)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-novel/110192/2 "2002-05-21T23:44:42Z")
Out of your list, I would go for Johnny Got His Gun…its just has an realness that I dont often find. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-novel/110192/3 "2002-05-21T23:59:10Z")
**War and Peace** More recently, Wouk has been entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2002, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-novel/110192/4 "2002-05-22T04:14:13Z")
This may not be the sort of thing you had in mind, but _Run Silent, Run Deep_ by Beach is the best war novel I can think of right now. Quite possibly someone will remind me of a better one, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Maximino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e95f7d/32.png) [@Mighty\_Maximino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Maximino)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2002, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-novel/110192/5 "2002-05-22T04:56:10Z")
I’m really partial towards **All Quiet on the Western Front**. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2002, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-novel/110192/6 "2002-05-22T05:14:13Z")
Hmm… my favorite “pure” war story is Michael Shaara’s _The Killer Angels_; However, as it is a fictionalization of real events, it may not be what you’re looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Mephisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@Mephisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mephisto)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2002, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-novel/110192/7 "2002-05-22T06:05:37Z")
I haven’t read most of the books mentioned here, and I’m not big on the war novels in general. Still, I’ve read a few. The best one I’ve come across, I think, is _The 13th Valley_, by John Del Vecchio. It’s the story of an infantry unit in Vietnam. Although I’m too young to really know (the Fall of Saigon occurred around my fourth birthday), it _seemed_ to be realistic. And it held my interest for all 666 pages (I remember how many pages for obvious reasons). Anyway, I liked it, and if you like stories about the infantry and/or Nam, you’ll probably like it, too. I also sometimes read various “cheaper” and more “pulpy” type war stories, the kind that never appear in hardback. But I didn’t figure that was the kind of stuff this thread was meant to be about. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2002, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-novel/110192/8 "2002-05-22T06:19:36Z")
Mephisto, you beat me to it! One of the best war novels ever. When I saw the title to this thread I knew I had to get this book on the list. If you like Vietnam era books, another good choice is Word of Honor by Nelson DeMille. ---
**Author:** ![catdog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@catdog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catdog)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2002, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-novel/110192/9 "2002-05-22T06:26:01Z")
I have to put my vote in for **The Winds of War** and the sequel, **War and Remembrance** by Herman Wouk. It’s a long read, about 2k total IIRC, but it was worth it. Wish I have the time now to read it again… ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2002, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-novel/110192/10 "2002-05-22T07:16:48Z")
Definitely, _The 13th Valley_ is right near the top of the list. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2002, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-novel/110192/11 "2002-05-22T08:00:36Z")
I don’t know if it really counts as a war novel, but I have always enjoyed _A Town Like Alice_ by Nevil Shute. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2002, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-novel/110192/12 "2002-05-22T14:56:59Z")
People, some great suggestions. **Manda JO** , I love _A Town Like Alice_ and like most of Shute’s work for that matter. I’m glad you mentioned it. And **Catdog** and **DrFidelius** , I also enjoy Wouk, but my favorite war novel by him has to be the _Caine Mutiny_. I guess the smallness of it or something. I’m not sure. **Maximino** and **Bibliophage** , I have enjoyed both of your suggestions although I did read _All’s Quiet…_ when I was too young and didn’t appreciate it until I reread it later. **DrFidelius** I will once again try _War and Peace_. The first time I tried it was too much like work, keeping track of all the characters. Still it was a good read as far as I got. Advocates for _The 13th Valley_, I will give it a shot. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2002, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-novel/110192/13 "2002-05-22T14:59:31Z")
**Birdsong** , Sebastian Faulks. Breathtaking evocation of WWI trench warfare. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2002, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-novel/110192/14 "2002-05-22T17:08:27Z")
I liked Wouk’s “The Caine Mutiny”. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2002, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-novel/110192/15 "2002-05-22T17:31:28Z")
I always liked The Red Badge of Courage. ---
**Author:** ![WSLer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WSLer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WSLer)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2002, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-novel/110192/16 "2002-05-22T21:10:59Z")
All Quiet On The Western Front ---
**Author:** ![burntsand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba9def/32.png) [@burntsand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burntsand)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-novel/110192/17 "2002-05-24T01:35:04Z")
Some additional good Vietnam War books: Despatches, by Michael Herr A Rumour of War, by Philip Caputo A Bright, Shining Lie, by Neil Sheehan ---
**Author:** ![Qwertyasdfg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecc23a/32.png) [@Qwertyasdfg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertyasdfg)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-novel/110192/18 "2002-05-24T02:47:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DrFidelius \* > \*\ ***War and Peace** > > More recently, Wouk has been entertaining. \*\* Are you on crack? 😉 I’m 1,000 pages into War and Peace, and I haven’t seen one battle scene that wasn’t battle scene that wasn’t bogged down by about 100 pages of extra information. For example, at Borodino he spends about 25 pages explaining the strategies and background of the battle. Frankly, I don’t care. When I picked up this novel I wasn’t looking for a text book. This would be a decent book if it was about 1/4 its length. (Just kidding about the crack.) ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-novel/110192/19 "2002-05-24T02:56:15Z")
Yesterday, when my wife was looking over my shoulder at the screen with this thread pulled up, she said, “Nobody’s mentioned the best war novel of them all.” I told her I would do it, but I was uncomfortable about bumping the thread to the first page since I was the originator of the thread, but since it has gotten to the first page without my help let me put my wife’s suggestion in. **Catch 22**. By the way, I picked up a copy of **The 13th Valley** today and will begin reading it this evening. ---
**Author:** ![johncole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5f9b8f/32.png) [@johncole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johncole)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2002, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-novel/110192/20 "2002-05-24T03:14:26Z")
my 0.02 cents US Civil War **The Killer Angels** , Michael Shaara WWI **Bury Him Among Kings** , Elleston Trevor WWII **The Kappillan of Malta** , Nicholas Monsarrat Vietnam **Chickenhawk** , Robert Mason [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-war-novel/110192.md?page=2)