May 2015 Billboard

2. Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime
Walk
This satire follows the
surviving members of
Bravo Squad through one
exhausting stop in their
media-intensive "Victory
Tour," and explores the
gaping disconnect
between the war at home
and the war abroad.

3. The Killer Angels
In an effort to draw out
the Union Army, the
Confederate Army
invades the North, and
the armies clash in a
bloody battle at
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania,
for four days.
Winner of the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

4. Matterhorn
Lieutenant Waino Mellas
and his fellow Marines
venture into the mountain
jungle of Vietnam, meeting
not only external obstacles
but also those between
each other, including racial
tension, competing
ambitions and
underhanded officers.
Winner of the 2011 W.Y. Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction

5. Sand Queen
After joining the army, Kate Brady
finds herself in a forgotten corner
of the Iraq desert, guarding a
makeshift American prison.
There, she meets Naema, an Iraqi
medical student whose father and
brother are detained in the camp.
Sand Queen offers a story of
hope, courage and struggle from
the rare perspective of women at
war.

6. Fobbit
At Forward Operating Base
Triumph, a combat-
avoiding staff sergeant
named Chance Gooding
spends his time composing
press releases that spin
grim events into
statements more palatable
to the public.

7. The Naked and the Dead
Written in gritty,
journalistic detail, this story
follows a World War II army
platoon of foot soldiers
who are fighting for the
possession of the
Japanese-held island of
Anopopei.

8. The Thin Red Line
The men of Charlie
company all discover the
thin red line that divides
the sane from the mad—
and the living from the
dead—in this unforgettable
portrait that captures for
all time the total
experience of men at war.

9. Sparta
Suspenseful,
compassionate, and
perceptive, Sparta captures
the nuances of the unique
estrangement that modern
soldiers face as they
attempt to rejoin the
society they’ve fought for.

10. The Yellow Birds
In the midst of bloody
battle during the Iraq War,
two soldiers, bound
together since basic
training, do everything to
protect each other from
both outside enemies and
the internal struggles that
come from constant danger.

11. All Quiet on the Western Front
The testament of Paul
Baumer, who enlists
with his classmates in
the German army of
World War I, illuminates
the savagery and futility
of war.

12. Hell or Richmond
From Ulysses S. Grant and
Robert E. Lee to a simple
laborer destined to win
the Medal of Honor, this
novel brings to life an
array of leaders and
simple soldiers from both
North and South, fleshing
out history with stunning,
knowledgeable realism.
Winner of the 2014 W.Y. Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction

13. Redeployment
Redeployment takes
readers to the frontlines
of the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan, asking us to
understand what
happened there, and what
happened to the soldiers
who returned.
Winner of the 2014 National Book Award for Fiction

14. Peace
During the winter of 1944,
three soldiers are sent on
a reconnaissance mission
up a mountain in Italy.
Lead by seventy-year-old
Angelo, an Italian of
indeterminate loyalty,
they are confronted by
the terror, confusion, and
hardship of their mission.
Winner of the 2009 W.Y. Boyd Literary Award for Excellence in Military Fiction

15. The Things They Carried
Heroic young men carry
the emotional weight of
their lives to war in
Vietnam in a patchwork
account of a modern
journey into the heart of
darkness.

16. The Knife
After two helicopters in a
sister squadron are shot
down, a U.S. Special Forces
unit operating in
Afghanistan is sent deep
into insurgent territory to
find and destroy a
mysterious new
organization.

17. The Secret of Raven Point
Volunteering as a World
War II Army nurse after
receiving a letter from her
missing-in-action soldier
brother, Juliet finds her
search hindered by field
hospital work and the
court-martial of a wounded
deserter who may hold
answers.

18. Wynne’s War
An elite platoon of
soldiers infiltrates a
forbidding Afghan war
zone on horseback in
search of vast treasure in
this thrilling blend of
military fiction and
Western.

19. The Pilots
Told through a
collection of vignettes,
this novel follows the
adventures of boyhood
friends who take
different military paths
in World War II.

20. Fives and Twenty-Fives
This novel presents the
stories of platoon leader
Lieutenant Donovan, who
feels isolated by his rank;
medic Doc Pleasant, who
is unraveled by the deaths
of friends; and Iraqi
interpreter Dodge, who
both loves and hates what
America represents.