Historical fiction book · Curated
Schindler's List
Thomas Keneally · historical fiction
In German-occupied Kraków, womanizing industrialist Oskar Schindler runs an enamelworks on Jewish labor—then, as the ghetto is liquidated and Płaszów’s commandant turns murder into sport, he spends fortune and SS credit to keep twelve hundred names on a list that means life. Thomas Keneally’s Booker-winning novel is WWII biographical historical fiction of a war profiteer who gambled everything to pull workers out of the path of the camps.
Why read it: A widely searched Holocaust historical novel (Booker Prize as Schindler’s Ark; film under this title)—biographical WWII fiction beyond occupied-France and Bletchley stories already on the shelf.
About this historical novel
Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally is historical fiction set around 1939–1945 in the World War II era period with key settings including Kraków, Płaszów, Brněnec, Poland. In German-occupied Kraków, womanizing industrialist Oskar Schindler runs an enamelworks on Jewish labor—then, as the ghetto is liquidated and Płaszów’s commandant turns murder into sport, he spends fortune and SS credit to keep twelve hundred names on a list that means life. Thomas Keneally’s Booker-winning novel is WWII biographical historical fiction of a war profiteer who gambled everything to pull workers out of the path of the camps.
On HisFic we tag it under 4. Biographical fiction and 1. Literary historical fiction so you can pair it with similar story types. Recurring themes include holocaust, survival, moral courage, war, and industry. A widely searched Holocaust historical novel (Booker Prize as Schindler’s Ark; film under this title)—biographical WWII fiction beyond occupied-France and Bletchley stories already on the shelf.
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Plot summary
In German-occupied Kraków, womanizing industrialist Oskar Schindler runs an enamelworks on Jewish labor—then, as the ghetto is liquidated and Płaszów’s commandant turns murder into sport, he spends fortune and SS credit to keep twelve hundred names on a list that means life. Thomas Keneally’s Booker-winning novel is WWII biographical historical fiction of a war profiteer who gambled everything to pull workers out of the path of the camps. A widely searched Holocaust historical novel (Booker Prize as Schindler’s Ark; film under this title)—biographical WWII fiction beyond occupied-France and Bletchley stories already on the shelf.
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Death narrates the story of a girl who steals books in Nazi Germany—and the family that hides a Jewish man.
- Captain Corelli's Mandolin · Louis de Bernières
In 1941, Italian captain Antonio Corelli is posted to occupied Cephalonia with his mandolin, and is billeted on Dr Iannis and his daughter Pelagia, who is waiting for a fisherman fiancé gone to war. Louis de Bernières’s novel is WWII historical romance of an Ionian island: occupation, music, and a love tested when the war’s savagery finally arrives.
Regions & places
Europe
Kraków · Płaszów · Brněnec · Poland · Czechoslovakia
Themes
- holocaust
- survival
- moral courage
- war
- industry
Tags
literary · award-winner · bestseller