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World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War Paperback – October 16, 2007

by Max Brooks (Author)

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“The end was near.” —Voices from the Zombie War

The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years.

Ranging from the now infamous village of New Dachang in the United Federation of China, where the epidemiological trail began with the twelve-year-old Patient Zero, to the unnamed northern forests where untold numbers sought a terrible and temporary refuge in the cold, to the United States of Southern Africa, where the Redeker Plan provided hope for humanity at an unspeakable price, to the west-of-the-Rockies redoubt where the North American tide finally started to turn, this invaluable chronicle reflects the full scope and duration of the Zombie War.

Most of all, the book captures with haunting immediacy the human dimension of this epochal event. Facing the often raw and vivid nature of these personal accounts requires a degree of courage on the part of the reader, but the effort is invaluable because, as Mr. Brooks says in his introduction, “By excluding the human factor, aren’t we risking the kind of personal detachment from history that may, heaven forbid, lead us one day to repeat it? And in the end, isn’t the human factor the only true difference between us and the enemy we now refer to as ‘the living dead’?”

Note: Some of the numerical and factual material contained in this edition was previously published under the auspices of the United Nations Postwar Commission.

Eyewitness reports from the first truly global war

“I found ‘Patient Zero’ behind the locked door of an abandoned apartment across town. . . . His wrists and feet were bound with plastic packing twine. Although he’d rubbed off the skin around his bonds, there was no blood. There was also no blood on his other wounds. . . . He was writhing like an animal; a gag muffled his growls. At first the villagers tried to hold me back. They warned me not to touch him, that he was ‘cursed.’ I shrugged them off and reached for my mask and gloves. The boy’s skin was . . . cold and gray . . . I could find neither his heartbeat nor his pulse.” —Dr. Kwang Jingshu, Greater Chongqing, United Federation of China

“‘Shock and Awe’? Perfect name. . . . But what if the enemy can’t be shocked and awed? Not just won’t, but biologically can’t! That’s what happened that day outside New York City, that’s the failure that almost lost us the whole damn war. The fact that we couldn’t shock and awe Zack boomeranged right back in our faces and actually allowed Zack to shock and awe us! They’re not afraid! No matter what we do, no matter how many we kill, they will never, ever be afraid!” —Todd Wainio, former U.S. Army infantryman and veteran of the Battle of Yonkers

“Two hundred million zombies. Who can even visualize that type of number, let alone combat it? . . . For the first time in history, we faced an enemy that was actively waging total war. They had no limits of endurance. They would never negotiate, never surrender. They would fight until the very end because, unlike us, every single one of them, every second of every day, was devoted to consuming all life on Earth.” —General Travis D’Ambrosia, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe

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Editorial Reviews

Review

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
USA TODAY BESTSELLER
WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER

“An ‘oral history’ of the global war the evil brain-chewers came within a hair of winning. Zombies are among us—turn on your television if you don’t believe it. But, Brooks reassures us, even today, human fighters are hunting down the leftovers, and we’re winning. [His] iron-jaw narrative is studded with practical advice on what to do when the zombies come, as they surely will. A literate, ironic, strangely tasty treat.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Max Brooks has charted the folly of a disaster response based solely on advanced technologies and brute force in this step-by-step guide to what happened in the Zombie War. He details with extraordinary insight how in the face of institutional missteps and greed, people in unexpected ways achieve unique, creative, and effective strategies to survive and fight back. Brooks’s account of the path to recovery and reconstruction after the war is fascinating, too. World War Z provides us with a starting point, at least, a basic blueprint from which to build a popular understanding of how, when, and why such a disaster came to be, and how small groups and individuals survived.”
—Jeb Weisman, Ph.D.,Director of Strategic Technologies, National Center for Disaster Preparedness

“Possesses more creativity and zip than entire crates of other new fiction titles. Think Mad Max meets The Hot Zone . . . It’s Apocalypse Now, pandemic-style. Creepy but fascinating.”
—USA TODAY

“Prepare to be entranced by this addictively readable oral history of the great war between humans and zombies. . . . Will grab you as tightly as a dead man’s fist. A.”
—Entertainment Weekly, EW Pick

“Probably the most topical and literate scare since Orson Welles' War of the Worlds radio broadcast. . . . This is action-packed social-political satire with a global view.”
—Dallas Morning News

“Brooks [is] America’s most prominent maven on the living dead. . . . Chilling. . . . It is gripping reading and a scathing indictment of weak responses to crises real and over-hyped.”
—Hartford Courant

“A sober, frequently horrifying and even moving account. . . . Brooks has delivered a full-blown horror novel, laced with sharp social and political observations and loads of macabre, gruesome imagery. . . . The real horror of World War Z comes from the all-too-plausible responses of human beings and governments to the menace.”
—Fangoria

“A horror fan’s version of Studs Terkel’s The Good War. . . . Like George Romero’s Dead trilogy, World War Z is another milestone in the zombie mythology.”
—Booklist

“Brooks commits to detail in a way that makes his nightmare world creepily plausible. . . . Far more affecting than anything involving zombies really has any right to be. . . . The book . . . opens in blood and guts, turns the world into an oversized version of hell, then ends with and affirmation of humanity’s ability to survive the worst the world has to offer. It feels like the right book for the right times, and that’s the eeriest detail of all.”
—A.V. Club, The Onion

“The best science fiction has traditionally been steeped in social commentary. World War Z continues that legacy. . . . We haven’t been this excited about a book without pictures since–well, since ever.”
—Metro

“Each story locks together perfectly to create a wonderful, giddy suspense. Brooks also has the political savvy to take advantage of any paranoia a modern reader might feel. . . . The perfect book for all us zombie junkies.”
—Paste

“This infectious and compelling book will have nervous readers watching the streets for zombies. Recommended.”
—Library Journal

About the Author

"The Stud Terkel of zombie journalism," MAX BROOKS is also the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Zombie Survival Guide and The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks. formed the core of the world’s civilian survival manuals during the Zombie War.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product details

Paperback: 342 pages
Publisher: Three Rivers Press; 1st edition (October 16, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0307346617
ISBN-13: 978-0307346612
Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.9 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 5,500 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,647 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #61 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers & Suspense > Supernatural > Ghosts
- #107 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Historical > Thrillers
- #143 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > War

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Very Cool

May 19, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This was a gift for my husband, but I ended up bogarting it before he even finished. Even though it’s not a genre I would typically read I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought it was extremely creative and Brooks did an excellent job conveying all of the different characters who told their individual stories about the zombie wars. The progression was great, from the first sign of outbreak to the cleanup efforts. I only wish some of the implications made weren’t so ambiguous, but so much of what was unspoken about the global calamity can be left to the reader’s imagination.

I think the following quote best sums the whole thing up: “All human armies need supplies, this army didn’t. No food, no ammo, no fuel, not even water to drink or air to breathe! There were no logistics lines to sever, no depots to destroy… It’s ironic that the only way to kill a zombie is to destroy its brain because, as a group, they have no collective brain to speak of. There was no leadership, no chain of command, no communication or cooperation on any level. There was no president to assassinate, no HQ bunker to surgically strike. Each zombie is its own, self-contained, automated unit, and this last advantage is what truly encapsulates the entire conflict… They had no limits of endurance. They would never negotiate, never surrender. They would fight until the very end…”

8 people found this helpful

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Ariadne011

For the intelligent zombie fan

June 14, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I got this book to prepare for an end-of-the-world class in my Mythology course, despite not being much of a zombie fan, but ended up loving it. This book is nothing at all like the movie, and that's a good thing. As others have commented, it's told as individual stories told years after the events, and the characterization, and the thought about military, medical, and social implications are all compelling. There is some unexpected interweaving of stories as well. The narrators are from different places, professions, perspectives, and lifestyles, and the zombies are more like the zombies we know and sorta love since Night of the Living Dead. Definitely for the intelligent zombie fans, in particular in offering strategic ideas to those who, like my daughter, keep plywood, hammer and nails handy in case it becomes necessary to board up our windows when the zombies come.

9 people found this helpful

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Incredibly Entertaining and Thoughtful Read

May 23, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is an interesting book. I'm not into the zombie craze and not a horror fan, but I really enjoyed the book. I've seen the film, it was loosely based on this book and enjoyed it as well. This book tells an intriguing story from many different viewpoints of a world war against zombies. Many sections will keep you riveted. I love the approach taken, a correspondent travels around the world to learn the stories from different countries and people of what happened. Really captures the feel of what a war against the undead is like, good, bad and ugly. Truly a diverse point of view done with a great amount of research. First rate and I will enjoy listening to the audio book version of this book.

5 people found this helpful

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December 1, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I have to start by admitting it was difficult for me to get into this book at first but I'm so happy I stuck with it for a few stories. It's very different to me to begin in the middle of a story that the storyteller knows and the reader doesn't, but after a few entries it is so compelling to find out the history of the war from so many perspectives at so many points in time. The author does an amazing job at bringing a believable voice to narrators from all places, perspectives and walks of life. Some stories are stronger than others but none were boring to me. Some stories were so powerful and I imagine individual readers will identify and attach to each story differently. I really think there is something here for everyone. Although it begins with a story of "patient zero" the book is not on an entirely linear time table so be prepared to jump around in the history of the war. The author creates such a believable wartime picture through the people you get to meet and the details that it feels very real despite its premise. I especially liked experiencing the details of each story through the storyteller. You see each situation through their education level, job, age, life experience, prejudices, strengths and geography which keeps the book fresh throughout. A note about the film, it's not really a true adaptation at all, it's a fairly run of the mill zombie popcorn film. If you love the book, maybe don't take your expectations from the book into the movie and it may still be a fun watch but it does not have the power and interest of the book by a long shot. It mainly just shares a title and a skeleton of the story, kind of like reading The Serpent and the Rainbow and then seeing the movie by the same name. I would love to see World War Z made into a TV mini series and faithfully adapted, with each episode introduced at the start of the person being interviewed and showing their own personal story.

3 people found this helpful

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A creepy story that is entertaining. Much better than the film!

October 10, 2013

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I almost didn't buy this book because of the reviews. The description of the book made it sound like a version of the TV show 20/20. Continuous interviews with survivors of the Zombie apocalypse.

I am so glad that I got the book and read it. I liked the story a lot and it was interesting to see how different cultures, different countries, the military and groups of people fought, lived and died to save themselves. The story was well written and thought out. The scenarios were realistic and it made you feel like you were there with the people telling the story and living their experiences.

The book is far better than the movie. I wish the movie had followed some of the best excerpts of the book and they made the film from those stories. This is the first zombie book I have ever read and I wasn't sure how I would feel about it. I liked the story and it leads me to try other such stories.

I rate the book as five stars. Some of the tales in the book will put the spooky feeling in the back of your neck and others make you think about what you would have done in the same situation. Isn't that why you read, to stimulate your mind, use your imagination and entertain yourself or to learn. Get this book, you won't be sorry.

5 people found this helpful

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Most recent customer reviews

Casie

Zombies

Too long. Sometime stale. Took me a month to read. Boring. Zombies was not exciting for me. Would not recommend

Published 1 day ago

Haragano

Amazing book. Made me both feel and think. And yes.

Made me bothfeel and think.and yes it is better than the movie. Worth a second read and a review. Pass it on

Published 1 day ago

Strider Lloyd

Five Stars

Original and well-written--I loved it!

Published 2 days ago

JennahMG

Hard to get into, but great reward in the end!

Like others, I must admit it was hard to get into this book... AT FIRST! My boyfriend at the time suggested I read it. So I did, and I couldn't put it down!Read more

Published 8 days ago

Adam

Cool

Good book. Highly recommend it to anyone who likes horror and specifically zombies. Also a bit of a military aspect to it.

Published 13 days ago

Jeff

Bad

One of the worst books i have read.

Published 13 days ago

weldon arnold

Mah...pass

It's interesting. But some of the "voice" actors aren't so great. Sounded like they were just reading a script (yeah, I know) and didn't really have their heart into it.

Published 16 days ago

JCB

Five Stars

A great read and very suspenseful. Please don’t confuse it with that terrible movie.

Published 23 days ago

Jaye Naish

Five Stars

Great writing

Published 1 month ago

Jayala

Great read. One of the best Zombie novels ever ...

Great read. One of the best Zombie novels ever written. Much better than the movie.

Published 1 month ago

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