Hundreds, if not thousands, of books have been written on the Second World War. Lasting nearly a decade, involving the majority of the world’s nations, and claiming an estimated 50 to 85 lives, it is no surprise a war of such magnitude would produce countless stories to be told. Here are 4 accounts of the war from angles you may not have read before. From a soldier who learns what it truly means to follow Christ in the midst of the Pearl Harbor bombings to the diary of a young Russian girl surviving the German labor camps, the experience that inspired C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity to the letters of a newlywed couple separated at the outbreak of war, these stories are sure to teach you something new about the catastrophe that was World War II and the incredible people who lived to tell it’s tale.
The Other Side of Infamy by Jim Downing, with James Lund
War is uncomfortable for Christians, and worldwide war is unfamiliar for today’s generations. Jim Downing reflects on his illustrious military career, including his experience during the bombing of Pearl Harbor, to show how we can be people of faith during troubled times.
The natural human impulse is to run from attack. Jim Downing—along with countless other soldiers and sailors at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941—ran toward it, fighting to rescue his fellow navy men, to protect loved ones and civilians on the island, and to find the redemptive path forward from a devastating war. We are protected from war these days, but there was a time when war was very present in our lives, and in The Other Side of Infamy we learn from a veteran of Pearl Harbor and World War II what it means to follow Jesus into and through every danger, toil, and snare.
The Secret Holocaust Diaries by Nonna Bannister, with Denise George and Carolyn Tomlin
Nonna Bannister carried a secret almost to her Tennessee grave: the diaries she had kept as a young girl experiencing the horrors of the Holocaust. This book reveals that story. Nonna’s childhood writings, revisited in her late adulthood, tell the remarkable tale of how a Russian girl from a family that had known wealth and privilege, then exposed to German labor camps, learned the value of human life and the importance of forgiveness. This story of loss, of love, and of forgiveness is one you will not forget.
C.S. Lewis at War by C.S. Lewis and Paul McCusker
Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis is widely considered one of the greatest Christian books of the twentieth century. What most people don’t realize is that it was first created as a series of radio broadcasts that came about due to the conflict and adversity faced by Britain during World War II.
C. S. Lewis at War is a powerful and entertaining radio theatre–style audio drama on CD that brings to life this amazing period in Lewis’s life. It provides a rare insight into Lewis’s life, friends, and family, illuminating a time of personal difficulty that also brought forth some of his most influential works: The Screwtape Letters, The Problem of Pain, and Mere Christianity. Recorded in London and written by Paul McCusker, the script comes alive with a full cast of award-winning British voice actors, cinematic sound effects, and an original score.
With Love, Wherever You Are by Dandi Daley Mackall
After a whirlwind romance and wedding, Helen Eberhart Daley, an army nurse, and Lieutenant Frank Daley, M.D. are sent to the front lines of Europe with only letters to connect them for months at a time.
Surrounded by danger and desperately wounded patients, they soon find that only the war seems real—and their marriage more and more like a distant dream. If they make it through the war, will their marriage survive?
Based on the incredible true love story, With Love, Wherever You Are is an adult novel from beloved children’s author Dandi Daley Mackall.
