This Memorial Day, honor the lived experiences of our nation’s veterans and brush up on your American military history with these extraordinary fiction and nonfiction books. From sweeping histories of the battles that altered the fates of nations to intimate narratives of lives forever affected by military service, here are a few essential books to add to your Memorial Day reading list.

 

A Perfect Frenzy by Andrew Lawler

A striking new perspective on one of the most overlooked events of the American Revolution—the efforts of the Scottish Lord Dunmore to build an army to fight for the Crown by freeing thousands of enslaved Virginians—that reorients our understanding of the Revolution and reveals the seeds of the nation’s racial divide.

“A sharp-eyed look at the messy, sometimes absurd, often cruel birth pangs of a nation.”—Alexis Coe, New York Times Book Review

 

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

A #1 New York Times Bestseller

A strikingly beautiful novel that recounts a Confederate soldier’s journey back to his beloved at the end of the Civil War. Through this odyssey, he witnesses a society on the precipice of change and the human capacity for resilience.

“A Whitmanesque foray into America: into its hugeness, its freshness, its scope and its soul.”—James Polk, The New York Times Book Review

 

Black Soldiers, White Laws by John Haymond

The first full and definitive account of the 1917 Houston Mutiny—the brutal mass execution of nineteen Black soldiers in Texas—and the following century-long struggle for justice that led to their exoneration in 2023.

“[A] testimonial to the arc of justice’s slow turning, and a somber, ably told story of race and racism in America.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

 

The Unknowns by Patrick O’Donnell

The untold story behind the creation of The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a national monument to thousands of unidentified American soldiers, whose voices are rendered heard through this searing, transportive narrative of the most critical battles of the First World War.

“With exhaustive research and fluid prose . . . The Unknowns prods our consciences to heap fresh honor upon the Unknown Soldier of World War I.”—Matthew J. Davenport, Wall Street Journal

 

The Savage Storm by James Holland

A dramatic chronicle of the first months of the Second World War’s Italian Campaign drawn from letters, diaries, and firsthand accounts that illuminate the lives of the soldiers who courageously fought to liberate Italy from Axis powers.

“A remarkable achievement by a historian at the height of his powers.”—Military History Magazine

 

 

Brothers in Arms by James Holland

An unforgettable profile of a legendary British tank regiment in the Second World War, charting their journey from D-Day to the war’s end in a gripping, Band of Brothers-style narrative.

“Caught up in the drama of battle, we sometimes forget the good men who died. Holland, to his credit, forces us to remember.”—Gerard DeGroot, Times (UK)

 

 

Eight Days at Yalta by Diana Preston

An award-winning historian chronicles the pivotal meetings between Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, and Franklin Roosevelt during the final battles of WWII, which re-shaped the post-war world with effects that still resonate loudly today.

“A colorful chronicle of high-stakes negotiations and a study in human frailties, missteps, and ideological blunders.”—Washington Post

 

 

Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes

A New York Times Bestseller

A spellbinding novel following young Marines who are dropped into the mountain jungle of Vietnam as boys and forced to fight their way into manhood in this powerful narrative filled with courage, camaraderie, and sacrifice.

“A raw, brilliant account of war that may well serve as a final exorcism for one of the most painful passages in American history.”—Sebastian Junger, The New York Times Book Review

 

Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden

A New York Times Bestseller

A fast-paced classic of modern war reporting that recounts the 1993 U.S. military raid of Mogadishu, Somalia and the ensuing battle that followed the downing of two American Black Hawk helicopters.

“An intimate, minute-by-minute chronicle of suffering, futility and courage.”—The New York Observer

 

What It Is Like to Go to War by Karl Marlantes

A deeply intimate and powerful look at the experience of modern combat, drawn from the author’s service in Vietnam, that critically examines how we might better prepare young soldiers for the psychological toll of war.

“A staggeringly beautiful book on combat—what it feels like, what the consequences are and above all, what society must do to understand it.”—Sebastian Junger