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The Winds of War by Herman Wouk
New York:  Pocket Books, 1971

     Pulitzer prize winning author Herman Wouk's Winds of War, later a very successful television mini-series, chronicles the events leading up to the U.S. entry into World War II.  The book begins in 1939, when Commander Victor (Pug) Henry of the U.S. Navy, is assigned as naval attaché in Berlin, Germany prior to the Nazi invasion of Poland in September, 1939.  While the central characters in the book, notably the Henry family, are all fictional, Wouk's historical backdrop for the novel is accurate and insightful.  During their stay in Germany, the Pug Henry and his wife meet Adolf Hitler and other key Nazi political and military leaders. 
     Wouk provides a fascinating account of the escalation of tensions from the German perspective.  Wouk's son falls in love with a Jewish girl whose uncle is a famous Jewish author.  They also rent their home in Berlin from a German Jewish couple who would rather rent out their home than lose it to Nazi persecution.  These Jewish linkages enable Wouk to write about the horrors of Nazi Germany from the Jewish perspective. 
     Later in the book, Wouk becomes an occasional advisor to Franklin Roosevelt, this time providing Wouk with the opportunity to portray events from the perspective of the US president. 
     Pug Henry also travels to the Soviet Union, Rome, England and Hawaii where he meets many of the key figures that played such an instrumental role in shaping the course of World War II. 

Comment
     The book is first and foremost a novel.  It is mostly fiction, but it provides valuable insights into the causes of World War II from the perspective of the leaders of most of the major combatant nations.  It does deal with some mature themes, including the adulterous relationships of Pug and Rhoda Henry.  It is also a long book, 1047 pages, so realistically it would probably have to be read over the course of a semester. 
     Furthermore, if readers still have not had enough of the Henrys after a thousand pages, the book is followed by the sequel War and Remembrance.  This equally entertaining novel relates the lives of the Henrys through the rest of the course of World War II.  At 1382 pages, it provides an even more in-depth description of the World War that forever changed our world.

Reading Level:  6.6
Interest Level:  Young adult +
1047 pages

Supports the Following Instructional Objectives:

Identify the Causes and Consequences of World War II

Examine the Continued Tradition of American Volunteerism through the Great Depression and World War II

Excerpt

     Hoping that Franklin Roosevelt was in as pleasant a mood as he seemed, Victor Henry took a plunge.  "Mr. President, any chance of my not going back to Berlin?"
     "You go back there, Pug."
     "Aye aye, sir."
     "I know you are a seafaring man.  You'll get your sea command."
     "Yes, Mr. President."
     "I'd be interested in your impression of London."
     "I'll go to London, sir, if that is your desire."
     "How about another martini?"
     "Thank you, sir.  I'm fine."
     "There's the whole question of helping the British, you see, Pug."  The President rattled the frosty shaker and poured.  "No sense sending them destroyers and planes if the Germans are going to end up using them against us."
     Mrs. Roosevelt said with a silvery ring in her voice, "Franklin, you know you are going to help the British."

 Picture of Tom Freeman's USS Oklahoma under attack courtesy of Naval Historical Center web site at: http://www.history.navy.mil/muexhib/visions.htm
Accessed July 5, 2002.

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