An engrossing work of historical fiction, this is a great WWII tutorial as well, leaving one with an impression of the times and a good deal of fact. The first half of a military family saga, the male characters of this novel are heroic yet flawed and ultimately likeable. The backdrops of 1930's / 40's Germany, Washington and Pearl Harbor are incredibly transporting. I will say that the women characters are either idealized or portrayed as shallow and I didn't come to care for them. But the story is so epic and the writing so vivid it transcends the weak female characters. All in all, this (along with it's prequel) is probably my favorite book of all time. ( )

Good for understanding WWII ( )

1548 War and Remembrance A novel by Herman Wouk (read 8 Jan 1980) I read Wouk's The Winds of War on 24 Nov 1974. Unfortunately, some of the details of that book were pretty faint for me when I took up this book, the sequel thereto. Byron Henry remains the hero, doing nothing totally reprehensible. Much of the story tells of Natalie, Byron's wife, and their son Louis, and her uncle Aaron, who is caught in Italy at the time of Pearl Harbor, escape to France, are sent to Lourdes, Baden-Baden, Theresienstadt, and finally Auschwitz. The account of what they went through is too gruesome to in anyway appreciate. Searing, searing, searing. Too awful, too incredible. This book is designed to be the War and Peace of World War II, and while some of it annoyed, one could not easily stop reading. The characters sure do a lot of drinking--sounds to me like most of the people will become alkies. Only once was there an occasion where they didn't drink--at a dinner Eisenhower was at. O, once, Pug refused to drink with Rhoda's boy friend. The morals of most of the characters were pretty depressing. This was a memorable book--Wouk can write. ( )

I learned more about World War II from these two books than from any high school history class. ( )

An excellent end to the two book series. The story is involved with many different characters and I find myself after several readings of the book rushing through certain sections so I can get back to the characters I like the most. In that aspect, while the book is a keeper and reading it is like talking to an old friend, I more and more gravitate to the parts I enjoy the most. ( )