War fiction consolidated

If you’re a fan of war fiction, there’s plenty to choose from, but this genre falls into a pretty broad range of sub-categories and it can get rather confusing.

For example, while both in essence ‘war books’, a serious biographical work like All quiet on the Western Front  can’t be considered in the same breath as a page-turner action novel like Where Eagles Dare , so knowing what you’re getting is important.

There are several things to consider when choosing a piece of military fiction, here are a few examples:

Period

Looking for a particular war or period in history? (War and Peace 1812, versus For Whom the Bell Tolls 1936)

Style

Do you want an action/adventure story (Sharpe’s Havoc) or a social satire (Catch-22)?

Language

Are you looking for something written by a contemporary writer (The Hunt for Red October), or written in a previous century (The Red Badge of Courage)?

Content

Are you prepared to handle a mixture of time switches (Birdsong), comedy (Flashman) and sci-fi (Slaughterhouse Five)?

Theme

Are you interested in the navy (Captain Hornblower), army (Legion of the Damned), air force (In the company of eagles) or codebreaking, espionage, civilian life…?

There are many other variables. Just goes to show what a rich genre this one is.

p.s. I’m not being sponsored by Goodreads.com, that was just the first site I went to!