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Herman Wouk

The Winds of War Paperback – February 5, 2002

by Herman Wouk (Author)

2,003 ratings

Book 1 of 2: Wwii

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Like no other masterpiece of historical fiction, Herman Wouk's sweeping epic of World War II is the great novel of America's Greatest Generation.

Wouk's spellbinding narrative captures the tide of global events, as well as all the drama, romance, heroism, and tragedy of World War II, as it immerses us in the lives of a single American family drawn into the very center of the war's maelstrom.

The Winds of War and its sequel War and Remembrance stand as the crowning achievement of one of America's most celebrated storytellers.

Print length

896 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Back Bay Books
Publication date

February 5, 2002
Dimensions

5.5 x 1.75 x 8.25 inches
ISBN-10

0316952664
ISBN-13

978-0316952668
Lexile measure

930L
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Popular Highlights in this book

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The girl you marry, and the woman you must make a life with, are two different people.
307 Kindle readers highlighted this
But talk, not sex, constitutes most of the intercourse between a man and his wife.
278 Kindle readers highlighted this
“Mr. President, the quality of mercy is mightiest in the mightiest.”
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Compelling...A panoramic, engrossing story."―Atlantic Monthly

"First-rate storytelling."―New York Times

"Wouk is a matchless storyteller with a gift for characterization, an ear for convincing dialogue, and a masterful grasp of what was at stake in World War II."―San Francisco Chronicle

About the Author

Herman Wouk's acclaimed novels include the Pulitzer-Prize winning The Caine Mutiny; Marjorie Morningstar; Don't Stop the Carnival; Youngblood Hawke; Inside, Outside; The Hope; and The Glory.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Back Bay Books; Reprint edition (February 5, 2002)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 896 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0316952664
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0316952668
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 930L
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.74 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.75 x 8.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #44,113 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #393 in Classic American Literature
- #444 in World War II Historical Fiction (Books)
- #860 in War Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
2,003 ratings

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Herman Wouk

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Herman Wouk earned his living as a scriptwriter for Fred Allen before serving in World War II. His career as a novelist spans nearly six decades and has brought him resounding international acclaim. He lives in Palm Springs, California.

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A. Murphy

Epic and Engaging!

Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2018

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Weighing in at 885 pages The Winds of War is epic in every sense of the word. As I worked through those pages sometimes it felt like it was never going to end, and I never wanted it to. The story follows the Henry family through the years immediately before the start of the second world war through the attack on Pearl Harbor. Wouk covers a lot of ground and he manages this by the clever device of following the family patriarch, Victor “Pug” Henry, through the ups and downs of his naval career.

The book could easily have taken on a Forest Gump type quality, making it seem like the hapless Pug just fell into these situations that allowed the reader to be where all the action was in following the trajectory of the war. Fortunately, Pug Henry is a likeable and competent character. Indeed, his stalwart approach to his life and to his work make him both charming and an eminently reliable pivot for the story. Pug manages to personally meet all of the major political figures of the war – Roosevelt, Churchill, Hitler, Stalin and even Mussolini – but even his wife does not know this. He is modest and circumspect and clever. This might have all become a bit too neat, so Wouk also follows the Henry children, who are all young adults in this time period to give us a more complete picture of the war. In this way, Wouk captures the massive social upheaval and the mood of the American public during the war and also allows us to visit those theatres of action that Pug cannot reasonably be.

The book is made epic, engaging and heartfelt by Wouk’s weaving of world historical events into the personal lives of the Henry family members. The scope and impact of the war is brought home to the reader through the story of each of the Henrys. Wouk, who is remarkably still alive at 102, manages to cover all of the major events of the war, several battles, and the home front. It is an amazing feat in terms of historical coverage, but also in how much he made me care for these fictional characters. It truly was a different time. Men and women behaved differently than they do now. Standards and expectations were different and it was fascinating to observe. Just as it was fascinating to observe the way the war changed these things.

I would have been more than a little sad when I got to the end, except that the even longer sequel, “War and Remembrance” awaited me.

90 people found this helpful

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Nelson Mostow

A fantastic read at many levels!

Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2016

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The protagonist is a 50ish year old career naval officer who is sent to Berlin prior to WWII. He is an astute observer and is knowledgeable about war strategy. He writes a brief predicting Stalin and Hitler will become allies which turns out to be what happened (at least prior to WWII). The brief is read by Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) who is impressed and begins to use him as an independent observer to provide him a sense of what things are like in Germany and Europe. He ends up going to London during the bombing of London and Russia during WWII during the time when the Germans were advancing on Moscow. Also, mixed in with the story is a review of military strategy by a German Officer who provides his view on world events of the time. Mixed in with what is going on with him, which includes a very tempting romance with a younger woman, are the lives of his two sons, one of whom marries a feisty Jewish Girl who gets stuck behind enemy lines, and the other who is in Pearl Harbor at the time of its bombing by Japan.
All in all I enjoyed the book thoroughly. I couldn’t wait to read it each night, and also during periods of rain while on our trip. It is long, almost 900 pages, but very absorbing. Also, I got some insight into how military planners think about war strategy as well as some history of what happened before and during WWII in terms of which countries were invaded, how the US viewed the war prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and many other aspects of life at that time. I highly recommend it.

63 people found this helpful

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Marvelous reading...

Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2016

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A few months ago I decided to reread Herman Wouk's two novels about WW2 - "The Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance" - and see if they'd held up in the 35 to 40 years since they were published. Since both books are huge, I'd read a few chapters at a time on my Ipad, when I had some free time. I recently finished "War and Remembrance" and have to say that both novels are as good as they were when I first read them. However, maybe I appreciate them more today.

Good historical fiction can teach a reader as well as entertain him. Much as "War and Peace" have sent readers to encyclopedias and other books to "learn more" about Napoleon, tsarist society, the ill-fated French invasion of Russia, etc, Herman Wouk's two novels can spur the reader who wants to go beyond the personal stories of the Henry family and into the historical period in which they lived. Although the character of Admiral Victor Henry is sort of "Zelig-like" - popping up in different cities and battles as the pre-war and war occur - he is used as the focal point of what Wouk wants the reader to know. And both books have an added dimension besides the plot line. Wouk includes running commentary from a book one of the fictional characters - General Armin von Roon, a Nazi general - is writing about Germany and WW2. Victor Henry is "editing" von Roon's memoirs and often corrects the general. By including the von Roon memoirs, the reader then sees WW2 from two perspectives, Allied and German.

Herman Wouk's writing is a bit flat, but I don't think he's ever been a particularly flowery writer. And maybe "flat" is the only way to write about events that run from Auschwitz to the Battle of Midway to the conference at Yalta. But those are the "events" in the books which are peopled by the characters. All are drawn with nuance and none is a caricature. I thoroughly enjoyed going back and reading these two books. I was constantly going from Kindle on my Ipad to Wikipedia to check this battle or that conference. It really was a learning experience!!

64 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

John A.

A clever fictional narrative, coupled with emotional insight and impressive historical detail.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 19, 2018

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I’m still reading this - a great book if, like me, you enjoy a really long novel. Actually, for me, this is a re-read, as I originally bought the book in the early 1980s, after watching the TV mini-series, which starred Robert Mitchum as the central character. I was pleased that Herman Wouk’s writing style has stood the test of time in the thirty-plus intervening years. The length of the novel aside, it’s not a demanding read but an engaging narrative, cleverly inter-woven with historical detail but, more importantly, the reader becomes emotionally immersed in a series of ‘iconic’ moments of WW2, eg the devastating destruction of Warsaw in the Nazi blitzkrieg. The story takes in the period leading up to the War’s outbreak in Sept 1939 and ending with America’s entry to the hostilities, following Pearl Harbor. Some of the story’s characters are Jews living in Poland and Italy and, while this period is, essentially, pre-Holocaust, the author brilliantly winds up the tension and foreboding, as the Nazi anti-Semitic policies morph terrifyingly from persecution to intended genocide. [For those interested, Herman Wouk’s companion novel, titled War and Remembrance, continues the story to the War’s nuclear conclusion in August 1945.]

3 people found this helpful

Kindle Customer

Remember it is fiction

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 7, 2021

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People will harp on how accurate the book and mini series is. But that is not what either is about. IT is a good engaging trip through a history that many of us know nothing about. It is dated in how it depicts women but that just how it was. IT was written by a male from a male perspective. If you do not read from a modern era perspective, you will enjoy the book

One person found this helpful

Kat

Epic

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 5, 2013

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On first glance, The Winds of War is an overwhelming book. At 885 pages / 365,879 words and taking place between March 1939 and December 1941, it's both dense in size and in scope. As a comparison, George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones is 835 pages / 292,727 words. And yet, I read it in three days.

Essentially a tale of one familys involvment in the leadup to the US entering WWII, The Winds of War is also a close look at the historical events in Europe, the US and in part, the Pacific that culiminated in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

The Henrys are a Navy family - Victor 'Pug' Henry is naval attache to Berlin and his wife Rhoda travels with him to Berlin. His grown children, sons Warren and Byron and daughter Madeline, are off making their own way in the world, and Pug finds himself drawn into the war in Europe when he sends a report predicting the Nazi-Soviet non-agression pact which comes to the attention of President Roosevelt.

Although The Winds of War is a dense, intense book, I found myself quickly addicted to the story. The characters were realistic and the writing very true to the era - not in a way that dates the story, but in a way that made me feel as if I was really there.

This book also helped me to understand more of the politicial, as well as historical aspects of the early part of WWII, particularly in Europe. There are sections of the book which contain reports from a German officer, which is translated and examined by Pug Henry, but I confess I didn't find them relevant to the story, and quite dry reading so I did skip them (after attempting to read the first section).

Part history, part family saga, I truly enjoyed The Winds of War. Despite the fact that I now have an aching wrist from holding this monster for three days, I'm already 300 pages into the next book, War and Remembrance. So if you're feeling brave, and love good historical fiction, The Winds of War is well worth the investment.

8 people found this helpful

nemo man

A classic that should be on everyone's to read list

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 2, 2014

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A Brilliant adult read that's adds a new dimension to the excellent DVD TV movie of the same name, but more importantly sheds a light into events around the early period of ww2 and what life could have been like for millions of people over Europe, Russia or the pacific caught in hostile lands, persecuted for being non Arron, or facing the the wrong end of Germans war machine all at the will of a mad tyrant. And what, ultimately ended in the horrific death of millions. This is one book where it's not hard to feel an emotional entanglement of it's well crafted characters. And the event of day to day life as well as the personal relationships they formed, This is one book you will want to read time and again

2 people found this helpful

Clipper 314

this two book experience is a 'must read'

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 24, 2009

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The Winds of War
This book along with the sequel (War and Remembrance)is a 'must read' experience for anyone who likes to get caught up in a book and is interested in this period of world history. Herman Wouk is an expert at intertwining factual events with the fictional characters who move through the story... he never puts a foot wrong with historical or technical accuracy and displays one of the most conscientious approaches to his work that I have ever had the priviledge to read. Rather than even attempt to precis the tale I will just say do read War and Remembrance after this one as so much more is offered... both novels apparently took 16 years to write and the result is a masterpiece

7 people found this helpful

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