World War II remains one of the most comprehensively studied events in modern history. It redefined borders, ideologies, and the nature of war itself.
Yet amid the millions of words written on the subject, a few extraordinary books rise to the top – works that combine rigorous studies with profound human insight.
To help navigate the best of them, we look at the recommendations given by Sir Antony Beevor, one of Britain’s leading military historians and author of seminal works like Stalingrad and Berlin: The Downfall 1945.
In an interview with Five Books in 2019, Beevor selected what he considers the five greatest books ever written about the Second World War.
His picks include fiction, biography, diaries, and deeply researched histories that continue to shape our understanding of the conflict today.
Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman (translated by Robert Chandler)
Set against the backdrop of the Battle of Stalingrad, Life and Fate is often described as the War and Peace of the 20th century. Written by Soviet war correspondent Vasily Grossman, the novel was so politically explosive that the KGB confiscated the manuscript shortly after its completion in 1960.
“They even took the typewriter ribbons and carbon copies,” Beevor notes, “because the novel was regarded as so dangerous.” Grossman had dared to draw a moral equivalence between Nazism and Stalinism – a comparison that struck at the very heart of Soviet ideology.
Through a sprawling cast of characters, Grossman shows how state terror – whether fascist or communist – destroys the human spirit.
Beevor, who edited Grossman’s war notebooks, considers Life and Fate to be more than fiction: “It is based on very close reporting from his time with the soldiers. He showed both physical and moral courage in the front lines.” Beevor calls it “probably the most important work of fiction about World War II.”
Hitler by Ian Kershaw
Beevor’s second choice is the two-volume biography of Adolf Hitler by British historian Ian Kershaw – a work he describes as “magisterial.” Kershaw’s exhaustive research and careful interpretation of primary sources make this arguably the most authoritative portrait of the Nazi leader to date.
“I don’t think Kershaw’s work on Hitler will ever be surpassed”, Beevor says. “He puts details and, above all, Hitler’s own words into a much wider context.”
Kershaw traces Hitler’s rise from obscurity to dictatorship, his consolidation of power, and ultimately the catastrophic decisions that led to global war and genocide. He also offers one of the most balanced examinations of the Final Solution, carefully assessing the timeline and decision-making behind the Holocaust.
“The ambiguities of the evidence, and the language of euphemism the Nazis used, make absolute certainty impossible – but Kershaw’s conclusions remain the most reliable.”
Leningrad: The Epic Siege of World War II, 1941–1944 by Anna Reid
The 872-day siege of Leningrad was one of the longest and deadliest in history. Nazi Germany intended to starve the city into submission, and by the end, around 750,000 civilians – more than a quarter of the population – had died.
Many books have explored this tragedy, but Beevor praises Anna Reid’s 2011 account for its unmatched depth: “She had access to archives that had never been opened before. And she was able to show just how cynical Stalin’s attitude was toward the city and its people.”
Reid’s research reveals not only the military and political decisions behind the siege but also the psychological toll on its citizens. Her narrative captures horrifying details: people boiling glue for soup, gnawing on leather belts, and – in some cases – resorting to cannibalism.
“I couldn’t look at a plate of food for years after researching Stalingrad,” Beevor recalls. “But in Leningrad, it was even worse.”
A Woman in Berlin by Anonymous (now known to be Marta Hillers)
Where most war accounts focus on generals and governments, A Woman in Berlin zooms in on one voice: that of a German woman surviving the fall of Berlin in 1945. Kept anonymous for decades, the diary was attributed to journalist Marta Hillers after her death, in 2003.
Beevor calls it “one of the great diaries of the whole war.” Hillers records the terrifying weeks when the Red Army entered Berlin and widespread rape and violence engulfed the civilian population.
“She shows no self-pity, even though she herself was raped on numerous occasions”, Beevor says. “Through her, you see the reality of life and war for civilians.”
According to him, Hillers captures the small indignities and brutalities of defeat, and the complex dynamics between women trying to protect themselves and men unable to cope with their failure to protect.
“In many ways, it was the women who were morally stronger than the men”, Beevor notes. “She describes how women had to support the fragile egos of returning soldiers simply to survive.”
Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder
Beevor’s final choice isn’t confined to WWII alone, but rather the broader period of state-sponsored mass murder in Eastern Europe from the 1930s through 1945.
In Bloodlands, Yale historian Timothy Snyder focuses on the region between Poland and western Russia – territories that experienced the full force of both Nazi and Soviet brutality.
“Snyder is looking at the deliberate mass murder of civilians in a particular zone of Europe,” Beevor explains. “Some 14 million people were killed there through famine, mass executions, and extermination.”
The book examines how propaganda, fear, and long-standing ethnic tensions combined to create a perfect storm of violence. For example, Soviet authorities blamed the Ukrainian famine on Jews, stoking anti-Semitism that later exploded during the German occupation.
Snyder’s term “bloodlands” captures the geographic and symbolic heart of Europe’s 20th-century tragedy: “He gives us a fresh angle on the way Nazism and Stalinism interacted to create unimaginable suffering”>.