The best books about the Western Front in World War I

What is my book about?

A panoramic history of the savage combat on the Western Front between 1914 and 1918 that came to define modern warfare.

The Western Front evokes images of mud-spattered men in waterlogged trenches, shielded from artillery blasts and machine-gun fire by a few feet of dirt. This iconic setting was the most critical arena of the Great War, a 400-mile combat zone stretching from Belgium to Switzerland where more than three million Allied and German soldiers struggled during four years of almost continuous combat. It has persisted in our collective memory as a tragic waste of human life and a symbol of the horrors of industrialized warfare.

What is my book about?

Known for his collaborations with Neil Gaiman, David Almond, Heston Blumenthal and Richard Dawkins, Dave McKean defied expectations with his stunning debut as writer and artist in Cages, winner of multiple awards for Best Graphic Album. Dark Horse proudly presents an original graphic novel by the legendary artist based on the life of Paul Nash, a young artist and officer during World War I, finding his voice and his social conscience in the trenches in Ypres. Black Dog; The Dreams of Paul Nash fuses real soldiers’ memoirs and Nash's life and work, becoming a moving evocation of how the extremities of war change us and how we deal with the resultant shock—in Nash’s case, by turning his landscapes into powerful and dreamlike 'psychoscapes'.

What is my book about?

A panoramic history of the savage combat on the Western Front between 1914 and 1918 that came to define modern warfare.

The Western Front evokes images of mud-spattered men in waterlogged trenches, shielded from artillery blasts and machine-gun fire by a few feet of dirt. This iconic setting was the most critical arena of the Great War, a 400-mile combat zone stretching from Belgium to Switzerland where more than three million Allied and German soldiers struggled during four years of almost continuous combat. It has persisted in our collective memory as a tragic waste of human life and a symbol of the horrors of industrialized warfare.

What is my book about?

In 1941 a Korean medical student, chafing under Japanese colonial rule, joins guerrillas fighting the Imperial Japanese Army in Manchuria. In 1944 a young American GI fights the Japanese in New Guinea. Both men suffer great personal losses before returning to their private lives after the war with Imperial Japan. Just as they each attain happy relationships and satisfying careers, war breaks out on the Korean Peninsula. Now two men who fought a common enemy in the Pacific War become enemies. Their paths crisscross and ultimately converge at the tragic battle of the Chosin Reservoir.

What is my book about?

This book examines the extraordinary life of Frank “Toronto” Prewett and the history of trauma, literary expression, and the power of self-representation after WWI. Joy Porter sheds new light on how the First World War affected the Canadian poet, and how war-induced trauma or “shell-shock” caused him to pretend to be an Indigenous North American. It investigates his influence upon, and acceptance by, some of the most significant literary figures of the time, including Siegfried Sassoon, Edmund Blunden, Wilfred Owen, and Robert Graves.

In doing so, it skilfully connects a number of historiographies that usually exist in isolation and rarely meet. By bringing together a history of the WWI era, early twentieth-century history, Indigenous history, the history of literature, and the history of class, it crafts an exceptional and fresh contribution to the field.

What is my book about?

Captain Jim McFarlane, a Canadian infantry officer, is coming apart at the seams. It’s September 1944, in Italy, and the allied armies are closing in on the retreating Axis powers. Exhausted and lost, Jim tries to command his combat company under fire while waiting desperately for letters from his wife Marianne. Joining the army not out of some admirable patriotic sentiments but rather because of his own failings and restlessness, he finds himself fighting in a war that is far from glorious.

Farley Mowat based his beautiful and wrenching anti-war memoir, And No Birds Sang, on the Italian campaign in World War II. Now with echoes of war ringing again, Matthew Murphy has taken the same campaign to tell a story of love and war, brilliantly capturing our ambiguous relationship to war. 

What is my book about?

“Action, loyalty, valor, and blood make Stewart’s series kicker in the Knights of the Air series a remarkable historical novel…A sharp and effective blend of WWI aviation action and adventure, a hefty dose of emotion and human drama, plus a dash of romance keep the pages flying. Finely written and vividly imagined, this is a complex, gritty novel delving into the brutalities of war. Stewart is an author to watch." Bookview gold award

What is my book about?

I was inspired to write this book after researching my grandfather’s (Stan Dunkley) time on the Western Front in Belgium and France. He was only 16 years old when he signed up, forging his father’s signature on a letter to gain permission. He joined the 18th Battalion and travelled from Sydney to England in 1917. After months of training, he was sent to the front and fought in some of the biggest battles of the war. This account is based on letters, diaries, and documents to put together a semi-factual account of his time on the Western Front. I did some deep research for this book; my aim was to put the reader in the trenches. The feedback I have received suggests that it is exactly how people felt.

What is my book about?

Behind Alien Lines is a collection of short stories derived from the Beta Earth Chronicles. The same characters and adventures that you love. We take the genres of science fiction and spy thrillers and mash them together as SpyFi.

What is my book about?

Known for his collaborations with Neil Gaiman, David Almond, Heston Blumenthal and Richard Dawkins, Dave McKean defied expectations with his stunning debut as writer and artist in Cages, winner of multiple awards for Best Graphic Album. Dark Horse proudly presents an original graphic novel by the legendary artist based on the life of Paul Nash, a young artist and officer during World War I, finding his voice and his social conscience in the trenches in Ypres. Black Dog; The Dreams of Paul Nash fuses real soldiers’ memoirs and Nash's life and work, becoming a moving evocation of how the extremities of war change us and how we deal with the resultant shock—in Nash’s case, by turning his landscapes into powerful and dreamlike 'psychoscapes'.