We read a lot this year! The only criteria for this list are that a) one of us read the book in 2025 and b) it's about WWII. Here are the books from this year that we recommend most highly, in no particular order.
A Bridge Too Far - Cornelius Ryan
This is the book about Operation Market Garden for a reason. It's 600 pages that doesn't remotely feel like 600 pages, and it makes everything make sense. Our episode is here.
2. Their Finest - Lissa Evans
A fun read that nevertheless doesn't shy away from the realities of being human in the keep-calm-and-carry-on era. Our episode is here.
3. Agent Zo: The Untold Story of Fearless WW2 Resistance Fighter Elżbieta Zawacka - Clare Mulley
Against the backdrop of Poland's struggle against two occupiers, one formidable woman did extraordinary things for her country. Our episode is here.
4. The Big Show / Le Grand Cirque - Pierre Clostermann
A funny, poignant war memoir by one of France's most famous fighter pilots. It'll remind you how young these guys were, and how aware they were of how short their lives might be. Our episode is here.
5. Sonny Boy / The Boy Between Worlds - Annejet van der Zijl
You rarely come across a biography that reads like a novel, or like a love letter to someone who wasn't famous - who lived one of millions of ordinary and simultaneously extraordinary lives during WWII. Our episode is here.
6. Munich - Robert Harris
A novel that makes the halls and meeting rooms of the Munich conference of 1938 feel like there's still time to avert the calamity that's coming. Our episode is here.
7. A Wing and a Prayer - Harry Crosby
A top five war memoir for both of us, Crosby is self-effacing, funny, and articulate about what it was like to be a Group Navigator in the Bloody 100th. We talked about Masters of the Air here.
8. Angel of Arnhem: Memories of Sept. '44 - Kate ter Horst
An incredible story about how everyday people sometimes step up and make all the difference. Kate took wounded Allied paratroopers into her home at great personal risk during Operation Market Garden. We talk about her story here.
9. The Longest Day - Cornelius Ryan
If you're like, "why does Cornelius Ryan appear twice on this list?" it's because he's the GOAT. A breathless but thorough account of June 6th, 1944. We don't have an episode yet, but it's coming.
10. And No Birds Sang - Farley Mowat
Canadian novelist Farley Mowat landed on Sicily during Operation Husky and fought through the Italian campaign. This is the work of a gifted writer who is not afraid to be honest about fear. We don't have an episode about this, but maybe one day we'll hit our top war memoirs, or Hollywood will make the movie.
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You know those five thousand ships you say the Allies haven’t got? Well, they’ve got them!
No film like The Longest Day (1962) had ever been attempted before. This 178-minute epic captures the totality of the Allied invasion of continental Europe at Normandy -- better known as D-Day -- from the Allied, French Resistance, and Nazi German perspectives. For this film, 20th Century Fox producer Darryl F. Zanuck assembled an army of directors (Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Bernhard Wicki, and Gerd Oswald) and an all-star cast of actors: John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery, Eddie Albert, Curd Jürgens, Richard Todd, Richard Burton, Peter Lawford, Rod Steiger, Irina Demick, Gert Fröbe, Edmond O’Brien, Kenneth More, and many more. An enormous number of extras were used. Much of the film was shot on location, including scenes at Pointe du Hoc, Pegasus Bridge, Sainte-Mère-Église and others.
Compared to newer World War II films such as Saving Private Ryan (1998), The Longest Day is a bit idealized and, yes, tame in terms of its depiction of graphic violence (the filmmakers wanted to push the boundaries of violence, but there were still censorship standards that the likes of Saving Private Ryan never had to deal with). But for its sheer scope and concentration on the D-Day invasions and the buildup to them, The Longest Day remains the quintessential movie depicting the Allied invasion.
In a year with stiff competition, The Longest Day was nominated for five Oscars including Best Picture (losing to Lawrence of Arabia), winning two: Best Special Effects (Robert MacDonald and Jacques Maumont) and Best Cinematography (Jean Bourgoin and Walter Wottitz; whose work on this film includes an almost two-minute crane shot without cuts that serves as one of the most ambitious scenes ever shot and choreographed in war cinema).
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The Longest Day (1962) is three hours long, has a gazillion characters, is shot in glorious black and white, and contains surprisingly little blood despite being about one of the bloodiest day of days in the eyes of many. James Jones, who had a dabble in the writing (Cornelius Ryan did most, of course), complained loudly about that last part.
This week, we’re wading through the surf at Normandy, keeping track of which German commander is on the phone yelling at which other German commander, and trying to remember whether that's Richard Burton or John Wayne or Sean Connery in the background of that shot. Spoiler: it might be all three.
The film is based on Cornelius Ryan's 1959 book. He was a war correspondent who returned to the Normandy beaches and decided he needed to write about the people who had actually been there on D-Day. He interviewed thousands of veterans and civilians. He was also, it turns out, spectacularly bad at getting along with this movie’s director.
If you've been curious about The Longest Day but couldn't face three hours of black-and-white war epic alone, we’re your pathfinders and have indicated some drop zones for you. Episode 112 is out now.
Listen here or visit our website for more info including the book rec!
With the anniversary of D-Day coming up tomorrow, here are some more episodes that have a bit of D-Day in ‘em:
A Bridge Too Far (Nederlandse titel Een brug te ver) is een Amerikaanse oorlogsfilm uit 1977, geregisseerd door Richard Attenborough. Het is de verfilming van het gelijknamige boek van Cornelius Ryan uit 1974. De hoofdrollen waren voor Dirk Bogarde, James Caan, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Edward Fox, Elliott Gould, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Hardy Krüger, Laurence Olivier, Ryan…
