Big Books of 2026

Listopia > 1940s Book Lists

The Book Thief by Markus ZusakAll the Light We Cannot See by Anthony DoerrThe Nightingale by Kristin HannahThe Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann ShafferSarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
WWII Historic Fiction
1,455 books — 1,529 voters
1984 by George OrwellAnimal Farm by George OrwellThe Diary of a Young Girl by Anne FrankThe Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-ExupéryThe Stranger by Albert Camus
Best Books of the Decade: 1940s
819 books — 1,144 voters

The Nightingale by Kristin HannahAll the Light We Cannot See by Anthony DoerrThe Book Thief by Markus ZusakBeneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T. SullivanLilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
Best WWII Historical Fiction
447 books — 633 voters
The Book Thief by Markus ZusakAll the Light We Cannot See by Anthony DoerrThe Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann ShafferThe Winds of War by Herman WoukThe Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
Best 1940s Historical Fiction
380 books — 420 voters

The Book Thief by Markus ZusakCode Name Verity by Elizabeth WeinBetween Shades of Gray by Ruta SepetysSalt to the Sea by Ruta SepetysRose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein
YA Fiction set in the 1940s
209 books — 158 voters
1776 by David McCulloughTeam of Rivals by Doris Kearns GoodwinBattle Cry of Freedom by James M. McPhersonJohn Adams by David McCulloughA People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
U.S. History Reading List
443 books — 140 voters

1984 by George OrwellSpace Cadet by Robert A. HeinleinOrphans of the Sky by Robert A. HeinleinEarth Abides by George R. StewartAnimal Farm by George Orwell
Classic Science Fiction - 1940-1949
91 books — 121 voters
A Bridge Too Far by Cornelius RyanThe Longest Day by Cornelius RyanBand of Brothers by Stephen E. AmbroseAn Army at Dawn by Rick AtkinsonCitizen Soldiers by Stephen E. Ambrose
Must Read World War II Military History - European Theater of Operations (nonfiction)
310 books — 114 voters

A Spy Among Friends by Ben MacintyreIron Curtain by Anne ApplebaumThe Triumph of Improvisation by James Graham WilsonThe Billion Dollar Spy by David E. HoffmanThe Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre
The Cold War (nonfiction)
358 books — 102 voters
Blackout by Connie WillisThe Raiders and the Cross by Patrick LarsimontLetters to the Lost by Iona GreyAll Clear by Connie WillisThe English Agent by Clare Harvey
The Blitz: Fiction & Non-Fiction
189 books — 82 voters

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper LeeCharlotte's Web by E.B. WhiteThe Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg LarssonThe Hunger Games by Suzanne CollinsThe Chosen by Chaim Potok
New York Times Bestsellers
231 books — 80 voters
Born of Gilded Mountains by Amanda DykesThe Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. LewisAll the Light We Cannot See by Anthony DoerrThe Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann ShafferThe Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Fiction Set in 1940s
267 books — 64 voters

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria RemarqueA Farewell to Arms by Ernest HemingwayGoodbye to All That by Robert GravesAshenden by W. Somerset MaughamStorm of Steel by Ernst Jünger
Vintage Novels & Memoirs About World War I
80 books — 54 voters
Code Name Verity by Elizabeth WeinCharlotte Gray by Sebastian FaulksA Life in Secrets by Sarah HelmThe Alice Network by Kate QuinnCarve Her Name with Pride by R.J. Minney
If You Liked Agent Carter, Try...
193 books — 45 voters

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. LewisGood Night, Mr. Tom by Michelle MagorianThe War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker BradleyCarrie's War by Nina BawdenThe Sky Is Falling by Kit Pearson
War Guests in Children's Literature
95 books — 43 voters
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise BrownMadeline by Ludwig BemelmansThe Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix PotterMake Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskeyThe Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
Picture Books of the 1940s and Before
291 books — 38 voters

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper LeeGone with the Wind by Margaret MitchellThe Book Thief by Markus ZusakA Prayer for Owen Meany by John IrvingCutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
Favorite Books of Women Born in the 40s and 50s
448 books — 36 voters
FDR by Jean Edward SmithFranklin and Winston by Jon MeachamNo Ordinary Time by Doris Kearns GoodwinEleanor and Franklin by Joseph P. LashTraitor to His Class by H.W. Brands
Franklin Delano Roosevelt: A Reading List (nonfiction)
136 books — 30 voters

They Called Us Enemy by George TakeiWeedflower by Cynthia KadohataThe Fences Between Us by Kirby LarsonDisplacement by Kiku HughesUnder the Blood-Red Sun by Graham Salisbury
Japanese American Internment in YA & Middle Grade Fiction
56 books — 26 voters
War Horse by Michael MorpurgoIsabel by Carolyn MeyerThe Girl Who Chased Away Sorrow by Ann RinaldiNumber the Stars by Lois LowryThe Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
Historical Fiction for Children
123 books — 26 voters

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne FrankA Woman in Berlin by AnonymousJambusters by Julie SummersDesert Exile by Yoshiko UchidaBlitz Writing by Inez Holden
Everyday Lives in History: 1940s (nonfiction)
130 books — 23 voters
The Let Them Theory by Mel RobbinsThe Wedding People by Alison EspachHere One Moment by Liane MoriartyEverything Is Tuberculosis by John GreenAll the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby
2025: What PEOPLE born BEFORE 1970 Have Read So Far
325 books — 23 voters

A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate AlbusOur Castle by the Sea by Lucy StrangeThe War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker BradleyWhen the Sky Falls by Phil EarleThe Swallows' Flight by Hilary McKay
Children's WWII Fiction set in the UK
59 books — 13 voters
A Spy Among Friends by Ben MacintyreThe Ghost by Jefferson MorleyA Spy Named Orphan by Roland PhilippsStalin's Englishman by Andrew LownieTreason in the Blood by Anthony Cave Brown
Cambridge Spy Ring (nonfiction)
30 books — 11 voters

1984 by George OrwellAnimal Farm by George OrwellNative Son by Richard WrightDeath of a Salesman by Arthur MillerA Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
A Century of Reading: 1940s
62 books — 11 voters
The Pale Horse by Agatha ChristieThe Zig Zag Girl by Elly GriffithsThe Secrets of Greystone House by Marcus AttwaterBrat Farrar by Josephine TeyMagpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz
1950s British Mysteries
18 books — 8 voters

One Eye Laughing, the Other Weeping by Barry DenenbergEarly Sunday Morning by Barry DenenbergMy Secret War by Mary Pope OsbornePieces of the Past by Carol MatasThe Fences Between Us by Kirby Larson
Scholastic Diaries: WWII
25 books — 7 voters
Dark Sky by C.J. BoxMurder on the Orient Express by Agatha ChristieRoads by Larry McMurtryNo One Thinks of Greenland by John GriesemerHarry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
What People Born in the 1940's Have Read so Far in 2021
51 books — 6 voters

Mother Goose by Joseph HirschRide a cock-horse and other nursery rhymes by Mervyn PeakeAnimal Mother Goose by Ruth E. NewtonRuth Newton's Mother Goose by Ruth E NewtonNursery Rhymes by Louise Altson
Nursery Rhyme Collections of the 1940s
10 books — 2 voters
The Potato Man by Devon MinchinGoddesses in Slacks by Allan DayAmos Intolerable by Richard MallettBeyond the Atom by John DeVriesPink Pills for Pale People by F. William Saul
Least Popular Books From The 1940s
100 books — 1 voter

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