Fiction based on World War II

Many types of fiction have involved events in the World War II time period. This list is a chronological collection of significant events from such fiction. It includes events that were set in World War II but have never occurred. Many of these works are key examples of the war novel genre.

Novels

  • A Bell for Adano by John Hersey (1944)
  • The Bridge over the River Kwai by Pierre Boulle (1954)
  • The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk (1951)
  • Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (1961)
  • The Charioteer by Mary Renault (1954)
  • The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat (1951)
  • The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins (1975)
  • Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett (1978)
  • From Here to Eternity by James Jones (1951)
  • The Good Shepherd by C. S. Forester (1955)
  • Goodbye to Some by Gordon Forbes (1961)
  • Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon (1973)
  • HMS Ulysses by Alistair MacLean (1955)
  • King Rat by James Clavell (1962)
  • Lessons in Dance and Love by Pavel Kohout (1989)
  • The [...] and the Dead by Norman Mailer (1948)
  • No Birds Sang by Farley Mowat (1979)
  • No Man's Land by Kevin Major
  • Once an Eagle by Anton Myrer (1968)
  • Pastoral by Nevil Shute (1944)
  • The Rhinemann Exchange by Robert Ludlum
  • Run Silent, Run Deep by Edward L. Beach, Jr. (1955)
  • The Secret of Santa Vittoria by Robert Crichton
  • Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (1969)
  • The Thin Red Line by James Jones (1962)
  • A Walk in the Sun by Harry Brown
  • War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk
  • The War Lover by John Hersey
  • War of the Rats by David L. Robbins
  • ''The Widow Killer by Pavel Kohout (1995 in Czech, 2000 in English)
  • Whistle (novel) by James Jones
  • The Winds of War by Herman Wouk (1971)

Authors who specialise in World War II

  • Sven Hassel
  • Arnošt Lustig

Short stories

  • For Esme With Love and Squalor by J.D. Salinger

Movies

1940s

  • 49th Parallel
  • Casablanca

1960s

  • The Great Escape
  • The Shop on Main Street
  • Closely Watched Trains
  • The Dirty Dozen
  • The Devil's Brigade

1970s

  • A Bridge Too Far
  • Cross of Iron
  • Kelly's Heroes
  • Ohtlikud mängud (The Dangerous Games)
  • Once an Eagle (1976)

1980s

  • The Sea Wolves (1980)
  • Das Boot (1981)
  • Come and See (1985)
  • The Misfit Brigad (1987)

1990s

  • Schindler's List
  • Stalingrad
  • La vita e' bella
  • The Thin Red Line
  • Saving Private Ryan
  • All My Loved Ones (about Nicholas Winton)

2000s

  • Divided We Fall
  • Želary
  • Enemy at the Gates
  • Return to Never Land
  • Windtalkers
  • Flags of Our Fathers
  • Letters from Iwo Jima

Games

  • Call of Duty
  • Medal of Honor series
  • Wolfenstein video game series by Id Software
  • UberSoldier
  • Battlefield 1942
  • Day Of Defeat and it's upgraded, Source Engine counterpart, Day of Defeat: Source
  • Company of Heroes and it's expansions
  • ''Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45

Comic books

  • Marvel superheroes fight [...] Germany, including Captain America, Sgt Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos, etc.

See also

  • Fiction based on World War I
  • Fiction based on the Vietnam War
  • Alternate history
  • List of films based on war books