This special book club feature highlights books set during WWI - both fiction and nonfiction, to bring you new perspectives on this pivotal world event. We hope these selections will give you much fodder for discussion and debate as you look back on events 100 years ago. And, of course, they also are excellent choices for individual readers, not just book clubs!
 |
Lusitania: Triumph, Tragedy, and the End of the Edwardian Age by Greg King, Penny Wilson Hardcover Feb 2015. 400 pages. Published by St. Martin's Press A glorious ship beautifully appointed with decadent period details meets a tragic end at sea. Sound familiar? If it's only the Titanic that comes readily to mind, you want to pick up Lusitania, the breathtaking account of a luxury liner that was torpedoed, an event that catalyzed U.S. entry into the war. An added bonus: Edwardian-age trimmings that will delight fans of Downton Abbey. More about this book Also recommended, Dead Wake by Eric Larson. |
 |
Mr. Mac and Me by Esther Freud Hardcover Jan 2015. 304 pages. Published by Bloomsbury USA As teen narrator Thomas Maggs sees, war can color even the friendliest of climates in shades of suspicion and distrust. A quaint English seaside town turns dark when an unknown "other," Mr. Mac -- and his wife -- move in. A point of view from the home front, this absorbing novel contrasts the beauty of an idyllic village against the perils of war. Read what happens when residents are warned to "See everything. Hear everything. Say nothing." More about this book including reading guide |
 |
Fall of Giants: Book One of the Century Trilogy by Ken Follett Paperback Aug 2011. 1008 pages. Published by NAL Why stay with just WWI when you can throw in the Russian Revolution and the women's suffrage movement for good measure! Historical fiction is gripping because we get to see large tidal forces affect everyday lives and popular author Ken Follett's The Century Trilogy uses a world canvas and an expansive one-hundred year setting to drive this point brilliantly. The 1000 pages of this first volume spans 1911-1924 and can be read as a standalone. Which of the five families featured here will you relate to? More about this book including reading guide |
 |
Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed The World by Margaret MacMillan Paperback Sep 2003. 608 pages. Published by Random House War. And peace. The city of lights for six months at the end of the "war to end all wars" was the gathering point for peacemakers from around the world. As the international players chalked up plans for the future, the history books point to an inadequate job done here as impetus for the Second World War. This deftly researched novel takes the argument apart. More about this book including reading guide |
 |
Land of Marvels: A Novel by Barry Unsworth Paperback Jan 2010. 304 pages. Published by W.W. Norton & Company The world war's truly global repercussions. Western nations duke it out in this thriller set in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) during the waning days of the Ottoman Empire. Iraq's rich oil fields were always a coveted prize as this thriller with a plot-twisting crescendo will confirm. History served with a generous helping of fast-paced action. More about this book including reading guide |
 |
Horses Don't Fly by Frederick Libby Paperback Jan 2002. 288 pages. Published by Arcade Publishing From the Wild West to the wanton and wild destruction of the WWI war front, this gripping memoir describes the coming-of-age of a young cowboy moving from Colorado to the Red Baron's squadrons in the French skies. Comparisons to Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy are not misplaced. An oldie but goodie, a true "Captain America" before there ever was one invented. Currently out of print but ample second hand copies available, and also worth checking the library's shelves. More about this book Also recommended Enduring Courage: Ace Pilot Eddie Rickenbacker and the Dawn of the Age of Speed. |
 |
At Some Disputed Barricade: A Novel by Anne Perry Paperback Mar 2008. 320 pages. Published by Ballantine Books Popular author Anne Perry's five-part WWI Reavley saga is a winner with each book set in a different year of the war. This volume, set in 1917, catches the siblings Joseph and Judith on the Western Front at the Battle of Passchendaele (pronounced passion-dale). If you prefer to begin at the beginning, start with No Graves as Yet: 1914; followed by Shoulder the Sky: 1915; Angels in the Gloom: 1916; and end with We Shall Not Sleep: 1918. More about this book |
 |
Charity Girl by Michael Lowenthal Paperback Jan 2008. 336 pages. Published by Mariner Books Charity Girl explores a dark chapter of American history during World War I when the government launched a moral and medical campaign rooting out women they suspected of having venereal diseases. A chilling reminder about how individual civil liberties can come under attack during wartime and how the defenseless are routinely exploited in the name of freedom. More about this book including reading guide |
This blog post first ran as a newsletter to our book club subscribers. Click here to subscribe
