WW2 Fiction

cherry blossom · May 2, 2023

Whilst looking at a recent hot topic, I realised that this forum doesn't have a place for WW2 or aviation related fiction. There are quite few books that might interest several of the less serious minded members and there might be some interest in a recommendations thread. Examples include
Bomber by Len Deighton Amazon.com: Bomber (Penguin Modern Classics): 9780241493700: Deighton, Len: Books, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller https://www.amazon.com/Catch-22-50th-Anniversary-Joseph-Heller/dp/1451626657, Piece of Cake by Derek Robinson Amazon.com: Piece of Cake (R.A.F. Quartet): 9780857050939: Robinson, Derek: Books and many, many others.

Wurger · May 2, 2023

Fiction

A place to discuss historical fiction based on WWII events

ww2aircraft.net

cherry blossom · May 2, 2023

Thanks Wurger. It didn't come up when I put "fiction" into the search window.

Wurger · May 2, 2023

buffnut453 · May 2, 2023

Would it be churlish to add anything by Martin Caidin to the list of fiction?

Coat donned....leaving now!

buffnut453 · May 2, 2023

More seriously...

Len Deighton "Fighter"

Derek Robinson "A Good Clean Fight," "Damned Good Show," plus the "Goshawk Squadron" series set in the First World War

Frederick Forsyth "The Shepherd"

Hope these make up for my last post...actually, I don't really care!

Marcel · May 2, 2023

buffnut453 said:
More seriously...

Len Deighton "Fighter"

Derek Robinson "A Good Clean Fight," "Damned Good Show," plus the "Goshawk Squadron" series set in the First World War

Frederick Forsyth "The Shepherd"

Hope these make up for my last post...actually, I don't really care!

I thought Len Deighton's Bomber was even more impressive.

I'm a big fan of Derek Robinson. He still writes although he's almost 90 now. He always emails me when he publishes a new book so I can buy it signed. Nowadays they are mostly books with collected tidbits but still fun to read.

cherry blossom · May 3, 2023

buffnut453 said:
Would it be churlish to add anything by Martin Caidin to the list of fiction?

Coat donned....leaving now!

You could certainly add him to the thread about science fiction as he wrote Cyborg Cyborg (novel) - Wikipedia which was adapted as "The Six Million Dollar Man".

zeamerseagerbeavers · May 6, 2023

If I'm allowed, I'd like to recommend my dad's book, AD ASTRA. (non-affiliate Amazon link)

It's drawn from his experience as a private and professional pilot through most of his life; his lifelong love of World War II aviation (his dual dreams—both now fulfilled—were to fly on a B-17 and to fly a P-51); a haunting "What if...?" that's followed him since the death of his cousin on his first mission as a B-17 tail gunner over France in 1944; and a desire to highlight the largely forgotten bomber war in the SW Pacific.

From the back cover:

It is 1940. America is mired in the Depression, as the rest of the world sinks into war. Tucked in his small corner of Kansas, a farm boy dreams of being an airline pilot, a dream that seems as unreachable as the hawks soaring high over his father's fields.

But when the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, suddenly his dream is within reach. As the pilot of a B-17 Flying Fortress in the South Pacific, he finds himself among the hawks at last, gaining the experience he is certain will lead him to an airline career after the war.

War has a way of changing our destinies, though, and when confronted with that harsh reality, young Gene Stoddard is forced to reconcile what's most important to him—the dream he can't have, or the life he can. And sometimes, he learns, dreams come true in ways that we can never imagine.

Among other wonderful reviews he's received for it, my favorite is from Douglas Walker, the son of MoH recipient Brig. Gen. Kenneth Walker, commander of V Bomber Command in the SWPA in 1942-43:

This is a story of heroism as a byproduct of a love and determination to fly . . . Del Hayes has written a richly detailed book, which gives the reader the vicarious sense of being with Gene behind the wheel of his beloved B-17. Hayes also brings that skill to bear in dealing with the human element in the story. We become closely involved with Gene and Mattie, and share an anxiety for their future that can only come from knowing them both so well. This is a wonderful novel.

I hope you decide to check it out. It's his most personal novel, and I think his best.

Available on Amazon here (non-affiliate link): AD ASTRA, by Del Hayes

zeamerseagerbeavers · May 6, 2023

I'd also recommend FLIGHT TO ARRAS, by Saint-Exupery, but do yourself the favor and buy the anthology AIRMAN'S ODYSSEY, which also contains WIND, SAND, AND STARS and NIGHT FLIGHT. (non-affiliate link)

It's one of my favorite books, of any kind, and cemented Saint-Exupery in a tie for my favorite author alongside Steinbeck.

KAKI3152 · May 7, 2023

I have a large collection of WWII aviation fiction, including some that are somewhat rare. Most are paperbacks
A Day is 26 Hours--Geoff Parnell- 1942 novel of RAF Bomber Command
A Tent in Corsica- Martin Quigley-Novel about USAAF B-26 operations from Corsica
Blaze of Glory-Michael Carreck-Novel about a RAF Wellington pilot circa 1942
Face of a Hero-Louis Falstein-novel of 15th AF B-24 Jewish gunner
The Last Battle- Peter Henn-Novel of a Me-109 pilot in Italy
I Fought You From the Skies-Willi Heilmann-Novel based on a FW-190 pilot experiences in Normandy with III/JG-54
View From the Air- Hugh Fosburgh-Novel about B-24 experiences in the SWPA, 13th AF
Skip Bomber-Lloyd Olson-Novel of B-17 crew in the SWPA
Bomber Crew-Joseph Landon- 15th B-24 novel
We Were Three-Gui Lefreve- Novel about Belgian fighter pilots with the RAF
The Gun Garden- Paul Stanton-AFV Wellingtons flying from Malta.
Bomber Crew 369-William Anderson- 15th B-24 novel.
Roll Back the Sky-Ward Taylor- B-29 operations from Tinian

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