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Historical Novels: World War IOne of the most brutal wars in recent history, World War I resulted from a chain of events following the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914. Aircraft were used in warfare for the first time. Soldiers on Europe's Western Front fought in cramped, muddy trenches under continual threat of death. The inhuman conditions and constant fear caused many soldiers to suffer from what was then called "shell shock." This period also witnessed the defeat of the Ottoman Empire and the horrors of the Armenian genocide. The United States entered the First World War belatedly in the spring of 1917. This page lists novels set on the eve of the war, during the war and in its aftermath. Some novels written during or after the war based on the authors' own experiences are also included, though they are not technically historical novels, since they were contemporary at the time they were written. Novels about soldiers are categorized according to the characters' home countries. Novels about Australians during the war are grouped with the British Isles and Europe. Novels are listed alphabetically by author within the following categories: Europe and Europeans World War I: Europe and Europeans
Patricia Anthony, Flanders, about a Texan volunteer b>in the British army who experiences the horrors of trench warfare; written in the form of letters from the soldier to his brother in Texas Antonia Arslan, Skylark Farm, about a family trying to survive during the 1915 Armenian genocide Henri Barbusse, Under Fire, about French soldiers in the trenches of the First World War (technically not a historical novel; based on the author’s wartime experiences) Pat Barker, Regeneration, a novel about Siegfried Sassoon, who was sent to a mental hospital after he concluded World War I was a senseless slaughter; #1 in the Regeneration trilogy Pat Barker, Eye in the Door, about a psychiatrist who treats soldiers for shell shock; #2 in the Regeneration trilogy Pat Barker, The Ghost Road, about a psychiatrist who treats soldiers for shell shock, a soldier he treated, and the poet Wilfred Owen; #3 in the Regeneration trilogy Pat Barker, Life Class (2008), about three London art students and the choices they make when World War I breaks out Sebastian Barry, A Long, Long Way, about an Irish soldier during World War I John Biggins, A Sailor of Austria: In Which, Without Really Intending To, Otto Prohaska Becomes Official War Hero No. 27 of the Habsburg Empire, a comic novel about U-boat crews during the waning of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; #1 in the Otto Prohaska series John Biggins, The Emperor’s Coloured Coat: In Which Otto Prohaska, Future Hero of the Habsburg Empire, Has an Unexpectedly Interesting Time While Not Quite Managing to Avert the First World War, a comic novel set in the last years of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; #2 in the Otto Prohaska series John Biggins, Two-Headed Eagle, a comic novel about a soldier during the last years of the Austro-Hungarian Empire; #3 in the Otto Prohaska series John Biggins, Tomorrow the World, a comic novel about Otto Prohaska’s early days as a soldier in the Austro-Hungarian Empire; #4 in the Otto Prohaska series Emma Blair, Forget-Me-Not, historical romance about an actress and a journalist who becomes a pilot in the RAF William Boyd, An Ice Cream War, about British East Africa during World War I John Buchan, The Thirty-Nine Steps, a thriller set on the eve of the First World War; published in 1915 (technically not a historical novel) John Buchan, Greenmantle, a thriller set in the World War I period; sequel to The Thirty-Nine Steps; published in 1915 (technically not a historical novel) John Buchan, Mr. Standfast, a thriller set near the end of the First World War; sequel to The Thirty-Nine Steps and Greenmantle; published in 1919 (technically not a historical novel) Humphrey Cobb, Paths of Glory, about a man who refuses an order to fire on his fellow soldiers during a battle; published in 1935 (technically not a historical novel) Manning Coles, Drink to Yesterday, about a British teenager who lies about his age to enlist in the army and is recruited into the secret service; originally published in 1940 (technically not historical fiction) Louis de Bernieres, Birds Without Wings, a literary novel about a Turkish village during World War I, the last days of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of Kemal Atatürk Marc Dugain, The Officers’ Ward, about a young officer disfigured by a German shell Helen Dunmore, Zennor in Darkness, a novel about D.H. Lawrence and his German-born wife and their Cornish neighbors’ suspicion of them during the war years Robert Edric, In Desolate Heaven, about a woman in 1919 Switzerland who meets two ex-officers who served in World War I and are trying to escape their memories Sebastian Faulks, Birdsong; about an English soldier in World War I who rekindles his love affair with a Frenchwoman whose husband abuses her; #2 (by publication date) in a loosely connected trilogy beginning with The Girl at the Lion D'Or and ending with Charlotte Gray A.T. Fitzroy, Despised and Rejected, about the persecution of British gays and lesbians, pacifists and Jews during World War I; technically not a historical novel; when originally published in 1918, it was seized and banned and the publisher fined; A.T. Fitzroy was a pseudonym of Rose Laure Allantini Scott Ford Madox Ford, Parade’s End, about the conflicts between a man who considers himself the last Edwardian gentleman and his wife during the World War I years; four linked novels published 1924-1928 (technically not historical fiction) C.S. Forester, The African Queen, a proper British spinster and the skipper of a broken-down boat try to make their way out of Africa in the midst of war Alexander Fullerton, Flight to Mons, a stand-alone novel about a young British pilot who goes to France on an intelligence mission Alexander Fullerton, The Blooding of the Guns, about the British Royal Navy during the Battle of Jutland 1in 1916; #1 in the Nicholas Everard series Alexander Fullerton, Sixty Minutes for St. George, about a young sub-lieutenant in the Royal Navy and his experiences in the 1918 raid on Zeebrugge; #2 in the Nicholas Everard series Alexander Fullerton, Patrol to the Golden Horn, about a seemingly suicidal submarine mission through the Dardanelles during the last days of the war; #3 in the Nicholas Everard series (the series continues with novels set during World War II) Jean Giono, To the Slaughterhouse, about the effect of World War I on a village in Provence; originally published in 1931 (technically not historical fiction) Robert Goddard, In Pale Battalions, about an aristocratic British family in the years after World War I Ron Graham, Flight of Youth, about a young man who progresses from air mechanic to pilot in the RAF during the First World War Philippa Gregory, Fallen Skies, about a British officer and the woman who becomes his wife in the war's aftermath Ray Grover, March to the Sound of the Guns, about five New Zealand soldiers during the campaigns of Gallipoli and the Western front Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, The White Road, about the Morland family at the outbreak of World War I; #28 in the Morland Dynasty series, which begins in medieval England Jaroslav Hasek, The Good Soldier Svejk, a satirical antiwar novel; published in 1923 (technically not historical fiction) Mark Helprin, A Soldier of the Great War, an old man tells a young man the story of his life while they make a pilgrimage into the mountains outside Rome Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms, about an American ambulance driver serving in the Italian army (semi-autobiographical; technically not historical fiction) Susan Hill, Strange Meeting, about a young British soldier and the dislocation the war causes in his life Audrey Howard, Whispers On The Water, historical romance about a young British woman in love with a man whose spirit is broken in the Great War Audrey Howard, As The Night Ends, historical romance about a British suffragette in love with a surgeon and separated from him, first by a quarrel and then by war Audrey Howard, All The Dear Faces, historical romance about two young women, one from a large Irish family and the other from an aristocratic family in Liverpool during the years before and during the First World War Jack D. Hunter, The Blue Max (1966), about a ruthlessly ambitious German fighter pilot in the First World War Sebastien Japrisot, A Very Long Engagement, a young Frenchwoman suspects her fiancé may not have died in the war as reported Marjorie Jones, The Light Horseman, about the effects of war on Australian men who served as soldiers David Malouf, Fly Away Peter, about two Australian soldiers Henning Mankell, Depths, about a Swedish submarine captain’s affair with a woman on an isolated island Frederic Manning, Her Privates We (also titled The Middle Parts of Fortune), a novel of gritty realism about British soldiers of working class backgrounds in World War I; first published in 1929 (technically not historical fiction) Somerset Maugham, Ashenden, or: The British Agent, a collection of short stories about a sophisticated gentleman spy during World War I; based on the author’s war experiences; published in 1928 (technically not historical fiction) Ami McKay, The Birth House, about a young midwife in Nova Scotia during the war years James Meek, The People’s Act of Love, set in Siberia during the end of World War I Deborah Moggach, In the Dark, about the war's effect on the lives of ordinary Londoners Anton Myrer, Once an Eagle, about a Nebraska man’s army career Kim Newman, The Bloody Red Baron, historical fantasy involving vampires which morph into huge bats which engage in aerial dogfights during the war Liam O’Flaherty, Return of the Brute, about the trench warfare experiences of the Irish Guards; based on the author’s war experiences (technically not historical fiction) Michelle Paver, The Serpent’s Tooth, about a woman living with a tragic secret and her search for emotional peace during World War I Piers Paul Read, Alice in Exile, about a free-thinking daughter of a radical publisher, rejected by her aristocratic lover when she becomes pregnant, who accepts a position as governess to a Russian family during the years of World War I and the Russian Revolution Douglas Reeman, The Last Raider (1963), about the captain of a World War I German commerce raider, a ship whose goal is to harass enemy merchant ships and disrupt commerce Douglas Reeman, The Horizon, about a young man serving in the Royal Marines during World War I; #3 in the Royal Marines Saga Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front, about a young German soldier; published in 1929 (technically not historical fiction) Erich Maria Remarque, The Road Back, about three German soldiers and their difficulties returning to civilian life after the war; published in 1931 (technically not historical fiction) Derek Robinson, The Goshawk Squadron, a tragi-comic novel about a British flight squadron Jules Romain, Verdun, a novel based on the author's World War I experiences; originally published in 1937 (technically not historical fiction) Joseph Roth, The Radetzky March, about the decline of the aristocratic way of life in the Austro-Hungarian empire as the First World War approaches Robert Ryan, Empire of Sand, about T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) and his activities in the Middle East during World War I Jody Shields, The Crimson Portrait, about doctors and nurses caring for men whose faces were destroyed in the war Richard Skinner, The Red Dancer: The Life and Times of Mata Hari, about the Dutch woman who reinvented herself as an exotic dancer in Paris and was believed to be a spy for the Germans during World War I Wilbur Smith, The Burning Shore, about a Frenchwoman’s struggles during World War I and her effort to make a new life for herself in South Africa Aleksandr Solzhenitzyn, August, 1914, about the disorganized and badly-led Russian invasion of Prussia and Battle of Tannenberg at the beginning of World War I, which led to the Russian Revolution Aleksandr Solzhenitzyn, November, 1916, a lengthy and detailed novel about the period leading up to the Russian Revolution of 1917 Penny Vincenzi, No Angel, a love story set in London and New York during the First World War Steven Weiner, The Yellow Sailor, about a group of shipwrecked German sailors wandering through war-torn Europe H.G. Wells, Mr. Britling Sees It Through, a propagandistic novel about an Englishman with a son fighting at the front; published in 1916 during the First World War (technically not historical fiction) Franz Werfel, The Forty Days of Musa Dagh, about the resistance of the people in the Musa Dagh area during the Armenian Genocide; published in 1934 (technically not historical fiction) Rebecca West, The Return of the Soldier, about a shell-shocked British officer; published in 1918 (technically not historical fiction) V.M. Yeates, Winged Victory, about a young fighter pilot; based on the author's World War I experiences, so technically not historical fiction
Mysteries: World War I EuropePhilippe Claudel, By A Slow River, a French detective tries to solve cold cases from twenty years before when World War I was raging Ben Elton, The First Casualty, a literary novel about a police inspector imprisoned for refusing the draft, released and sent to the midst of the war in France to investigate a murder
Anne Perry, Shoulder the Sky, a British army chaplain on the front lines in 1915 investigates a murder; #2 in the World War One mystery series Anne Perry, Angels in the Gloom, about a wounded army chaplain on leave in 1916; #3 in the World War One mystery series Anne Perry, At Some Disputed Barricade, a British army chaplain on the front lines in 1917 investigates a murder; #4 in the World War One series Anne Perry, We Shall Not Sleep, about a British army chaplain in 1918, the last year of the war; #5 in the World War One mystery series
Charles Todd, A Test of Wills, about a Scotland Yard inspector suffering from shell-shock assigned to investigate a case of murder in which the prime suspect is a friend of the Prince of Wales; #1 in the Inspector Rutledge mystery series. More info Charles Todd, Wings of Fire, about a Scotland Yard inspector suffering from shell-shock who goes to Cornwall to investigate three deaths in the same family; #2 in the Inspector Rutledge mystery series. More info Charles Todd, Search the Dark, about a Scotland Yard inspector suffering from shell-shock who must find out who murdered a woman and where her three missing children are; #3 in the Inspector Rutledge mystery series. More info Charles Todd, Legacy of the Dead, about a Scotland Yard inspector suffering from shell shock who investigates the case of a missing woman in Durham, Scotland; #4 in the Inspector Rutledge mystery series. More info Charles Todd, Watchers of Time, about a Scotland Yard inspector suffering from shell shock who investigates the murder of a priest; #5 in the Inspector Rutledge mystery series. More info Charles Todd, A Fearsome Doubt, about a Scotland Yard inspector suffering from shell shock who investigates an old case of serial murder; #6 in the Inspector Rutledge mystery series. More info Charles Todd, A Cold Treachery, about a Scotland Yard inspector suffering from shell shock who investigates a family's murder and tries to rescue a missing child, the only survivor; #7 in the Inspector Rutledge mystery series. More info Charles Todd, A Long Shadow, about a Scotland Yard inspector suffering from shell shock who is being stalked by an unknown person leaving machine gun cartridges as his calling card; #8 in the Inspector Rutledge mystery series. More info Charles Todd, A False Mirror, about a Scotland Yard inspector suffering from shell shock who must find a killer in a small town on the southern coast of England; #9 in the Inspector Rutledge mystery series. More info Charles Todd, A Pale Horse, about a Scotland Yard inspector suffering from shell shock who investigates a case of murder in an abbey ruin in Yorkshire; #10 in the Inspector Rutledge mystery series. More info
Jacqueline Winspear, Birds of a Feather, in 1930 London, a female investigator takes a case with roots in the First World War; #2 in the Maisie Dobbs mystery series Jacqueline Winspear, Pardonable Lies, about a female investigator who takes a case with roots in the First World War; #3 in the Maisie Dobbs mystery series Jacqueline Winspear, Messenger of Truth, in 1931 London, a female investigator takes a case with roots in the First World War; #4 in the Maisie Dobbs mystery series Jacqueline Winspear, An Incomplete Revenge, a female investigator takes a case with roots in the First World War; #5 in the Maisie Dobbs mystery series
World War I: Americans and CanadiansAndrea Barrett, The Air We Breathe, about patients in a tuberculosis sanitarium during the war years Thomas Boyd, Through the Wheat, about the U.S. Marines in World War I; published in 1923 (technically not a historical novel) Joseph Boyden, Three Day Road, about two young Cree Indian men’s war experiences Gwen Bristow, This Side of Glory, about the descendants of a wealthy plantation family and a poor white family in Louisiana during World War I; published in 1940; #3 in the Plantation Trilogy (#1 is set before the Civil War; #2 is set during the Civil War) John Dos Passos, Three Soldiers, one of the first realistic novels about the horrors of the First World War; published in 1920 (technically not a historical novel) John Dos Passos, 42nd Parallel, an antiwar novel about World War I; #1 in the U.S.A. trilogy (technically not a historical novel) John Dos Passos, 1919, an antiwar novel about World War I; #2 in the U.S.A. trilogy (technically not a historical novel) John Dos Passos, The Big Money, about the gulf between the haves and the have-nots in the post-war 1920s; #3 in the U.S.A. trilogy (technically not a historical novel) Timothy Findley, The Wars, about a young Canadian army officer’s war experiences Thomas J. Fleming, Over There, a woman who is a feminist and former pacifist works goes to France to work as a nurse on the front lines Nicholas Griffin, Dizzy City, about an English deserter trying to escape his memories of war by becoming a con man in New York Charles Yale Harrison, Generals Die in Bed, about World War I trench warfare (technically not a historical novel; the author served in the war) Jonathan Hull, Losing Julia, an elderly American recalls his World War I experiences and the love of his life Frances Itani, Deafening, about a deaf Canadian girl, from her childhood through her romance with a man who enlists to fight in the war Guy Johnson, Standing at the Scratch Line, about a young black man from Louisiana who enlists in the army rather than face a prejudiced justice system after he murders some corrupt lawmen Antonia Logue, Shadow-Box, about American boxers before and during the First World War Michael Lowenthal, Charity Girl, about a young Boston woman imprisoned for having a “social disease” during the war Hugh MacLennan, Barometer Rising, about a munitions ship that exploded and partly destroyed the town of Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1917 Robert MacNeil, Burden of Desire, about a clergyman searching for a woman who lost a sexually revealing diary in the wreckage of the munitions ship that blew up in Nova Scotia Kevin Major, No Man's Land, about the Newfoundland Regiment, which suffered more casualties in the Battle of the Somme than any other unit Heather Parkinson, Across Open Ground, about a young Idaho sheep herder drafted into the war and the effects of their separation on the woman he loves Richard Powers, Three Farmers on Their Way to a Dance, a literary novel about three farmers’ wartime experiences Christina Schwarz, Drowning Ruth, about tragic family secrets in the aftermath of the First World War Jeff Shaara, To the Last Man, about the United States’ entry into the war Elswyth Thane, The Light Heart, about two Virginia families during World War I; #4 in the Williamsburg novels Elswyth Thane, Kissing Kin, about two Virginia families during World War I; #5 in the Williamsburg novels (#6 and #7 set during World War II) Dalton Trumbo, Johnny Got His Gun, an antiwar novel about a soldier maimed in World War I; published in 1939 (technically not historical fiction) Jane Urquhart, The Underpainter, about an artist whose technique involves painting a scene and adding another layer that obscures it Jane Urquhart, The Stone Carvers, about the building of a monument to Canadians lost in the First World War Gene Wilder, My French Whore, a comic novel about an inexperienced American soldier who impersonates a German spy Janice Woods Windle, Will’s War, about prejudice against Americans of German descent in World War I Texas
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