All the Light We Cannot See
Anthony Doerr
A blind French girl and a German boy’s paths converge in occupied Saint-Malo during World War II.
World War II era · Interwar · Literary · Adventure & epic
World War II era · Adventure & epic · ~1939–1945
World War II era adventure & epic historical fiction books
Looking for historical fiction in the adventure & epic lane set during the World War II era (~1939–1945)? World War II era adventure & epic historical fiction books collects historical novels that match both filters—Global war, resistance, Holocaust, home fronts. Sweeping quests, voyages, and large-canvas history HisFic is a free historical fiction discovery app: open a full reading journey with the same era and story-type filters, then add region, themes, or audience. Shelves mix curated historical fiction picks with Open Library titles so even thin combinations still have books to explore.
Shelf · 10 titles
Curated HisFic picks first, plus Open Library fills for this era + story type.
Outlander
Diana Gabaldon
A WWII nurse walks through standing stones into Jacobite Scotland—and a complicated love story.
Early modern · World War II era · Time-slip · Romance
City of Thieves
David Benioff
In the starving winter of the Leningrad siege, seventeen-year-old Lev Beniov is caught looting a dead German and spared only if he and Kolya, a deserting private with a story for every checkpoint, can bring a colonel a dozen eggs for his daughter’s wedding cake. David Benioff’s 2008 novel is World War II military historical fiction of a frozen city, cannibals on the road, and two young men sent behind the lines for a feast nobody can afford.
World War II era · Military & war · Adventure & epic
A Town Like Alice
Nevil Shute
Jean Paget, a young Englishwoman working in Malaya when the Japanese invade, is marched for months with a party of women and children, and an Australian prisoner, Joe Harman, is punished for helping them. Nevil Shute’s 1950 novel is World War II romance historical fiction of the years after—an inheritance in 1948, the news that Joe survived, and the outback settlement she sets out to turn into a town like Alice Springs.
World War II era · Cold War · Romance · Adventure & epic
I Survived The Nazi Invasion, 1944
Lauren Tarshis
September 11 Terrorist Attacks (2001) fast (OCoLC)fst01112794 · Survival Stories · Adventure and adventurers · Fiction
World War II era · World War I era · Military & war · Adventure & epic · Open Library
The fire-eaters
David Almond
Conduct of life · Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 · Fiction · Hope
Late 20th century · Adventure & epic · Open Library
The Great Escape
Megan Rix
Action and adventure fiction · Juvenile works · World War, 1939-1945 · World War (1939-1945) cct
World War I era · World War II era · Military & war · Adventure & epic · Open Library
Why?
Tomie dePaola
American Authors · Authors, American · Biography · Childhood and youth
Late 20th century · Biographical · Adventure & epic · Open Library
The Girls They Left Behind
Bernice Thurman Hunter
Maturation (Psychology) · War stories · Teenage girls · Guerre mondiale, 1939-1945
World War I era · World War II era · Military & war · Adventure & epic · Open Library
Shrapnel
Robert Swindells
Juvenile Fiction · Fiction · Children's fiction · Adventure and adventurers, fiction
World War I era · World War II era · Military & war · Adventure & epic · Open Library
Other story types in World War II era
Looking for a broader list? See World War II era historical fiction or adventure & epic historical fiction.