Best War Fiction Books of 2025

*Winner of the Pulitzer Prize* A New York Times Book Review Top Ten Book* A National Book Award Finalist* From Anthony Doerr, the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning author of Cloud Cuckoo Land, the beautiful, stunningly ambitious instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II. *Soon to be a Netflix limited series from the producers of Stranger Things*Marie-Laure lives in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where her father works. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel. In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another. Doerr’s “stunning sense of physical detail and gorgeous metaphors” (San Francisco Chronicle) are dazzling. Ten years in the writing, a National Book Award finalist, All the Light We Cannot See is a magnificent, deeply moving novel from a writer “whose sentences never fail to thrill” (Los Angeles Times).

"Circe" is a captivating retelling of the infamous female figure from the Odyssey, recasting her as a hero in her own right. The daughter of Helios, god of the sun, Circe is banished to a deserted island where she discovers her power of witchcraft. From there, she crosses paths with many famous figures in mythology, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying of the Olympians. With vivid characters, mesmerizing language, and page-turning suspense, "Circe" is a triumph of storytelling and a celebration of indomitable female strength in a man's world. Overall, a must-read for fans of Greek mythology and feminist literature.

A classic work of American literature that has not stopped changing minds and lives since it burst onto the literary scene, The Things They Carried is a ground-breaking meditation on war, memory, imagination, and the redemptive power of storytelling.   The Things They Carried depicts the men of Alpha Company: Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and the character Tim O’Brien, who has survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and writer at the age of forty-three.  Taught everywhere—from high school classrooms to graduate seminars in creative writing—it has become required reading for any American and continues to challenge readers in their perceptions of fact and fiction, war and peace, courage and fear and longing.

The Book of Lost Names is a historical novel based on an incredible true story from World War II. Eva, a young woman with a talent for forgery, helps Jewish children flee the Nazis by creating fake identity documents. Along with a mysterious forger named Rémy, Eva decides to preserve the real names of the children who are too young to remember who they truly are. The Book of Lost Names is a heartrending and fascinating page-turner that should never be forgotten. The book is a sweeping and magnificent historical novel that highlights the importance of preserving history for future generations.

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn is a gripping World War II historical fiction novel about three women code breakers at Bletchley Park who must root out a spy after the war. The story follows Osla, Mab, and Beth as they use their skills to break German military codes and unravel a web of betrayal and secrets. The novel is a page-turner, with well-developed characters and a thrilling plot that keeps the reader engaged until the very end. Quinn's writing is superb, making this book a must-read for fans of historical fiction and espionage novels.

The Diamond Eye is a gripping World War II tale based on a true story, featuring Mila Pavlichenko, a quiet bookworm who becomes the deadliest female sniper in history. Mila's journey from studious girl to lethal hunter of Nazis, known as Lady Death, is a remarkable character study of a woman who is a killer, a mother, a lover, and, above all else, a survivor. Kate Quinn's masterful storytelling and immersive period details make The Diamond Eye a haunting novel of heroism born of desperation, of a mother who became a soldier, and of a woman who changed the course of history forever.

Slaughterhouse-Five is a classic American anti-war book that focuses on the bombing of Dresden during the Second World War. The protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, travels through time, reflecting on the fractured nature of our lives as we search for meaning in the face of fear. The novel is both poignant and hilarious, with a thundering moral statement that is sure to leave a lasting impression. The book is a true masterpiece that captures the imagination of readers and establishes Kurt Vonnegut as one of the best American writers.

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn is a thrilling tale of two women from different eras, brought together by their search for truth and redemption. One, a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I, and the other, an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947. The novel is a Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick and a 2017 Girly Book Club Book of the Year. Quinn has done an excellent job of bringing history to life with her captivating writing style. The Alice Network is a must-read for fans of World War I historical fiction books.

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque is a classic war novel that tells the story of Paul Bäumer, who enlists with his classmates in the German army during World War I. The book provides a vivid depiction of the horrors of war and the impact it has on young soldiers. Through Paul's experiences, the novel explores the themes of loss, disillusionment, and the futility of war. The language used by Remarque is powerful and evocative, making it a must-read for anyone interested in the effects of war on the human psyche.