WW2Tales

A page to share links of my blog warcrows.in

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I started WarCrows almost two years ago, a blog where I planned to post reviews/summaries of books that covered the WW2 era.

At the time, it seemed like a interest I was converting into a hobby, but it ran deeper. 2020, the year I began blogging, was a fucked up time for me. I was in a shitty dead-end job, with a seriously toxic boss who would give me anxiety attacks. I couldn't switch jobs because the COVID-19 pandemic was rampant, and my kind of jobs were the first companies were "restructuring".

I didn't realise it then, but looking back I see I was borderline depressive. Working from home wasn't helping matters; I'd get up at 0915 to log on to my laptop at 0930, keep it on through the day even though the work I did back then never extended beyond an hour or two, and spend the rest of the time listless, sometimes sleeping off again for 2-3 hours at a stretch even after sleeping in late in the mornings. I'd swing between boredom, lethargy, anger, mindless eating in a flash, and I gave hell to my partner in that phase.

I didn't realise it then, but WarCrows saved me. It brought me back from that dark space I was in. Right from planning for the name, researching on how to write blog posts, comparing various blogging platforms to find the one that served my requirements, deciding upon the tone of my posts, the kind of books I'd start of with, the number of books I'd cover in a year (2 books each month), the sequence in which I'd write about them - all of this and more gave me my sense of purpose back. I had something to look forward to again. I was no longer waking up every morning just because I couldn't be sleeping any more. I was going to start something that was going to make me happy while doing it.

Working on WarCrows helped me in other areas of my life too. Because I wanted to be fresh and focused while I wrote, I started getting up early again. I started going for runs every other day to help with the energy build up. I cut back on the junk food I was binging on. And all of this combined had an effect on my mental state as well. I was no longer looking at myself with self-loathing, no longer questioning why I didn't just give up the ghost, no longer doubting my own skills or putting myself down every time my boss tried to do that to me. I would still have anxiety attacks sometimes, but the frequency and intensity both went down.

This in turn gave me the confidence I needed to start looking for a new job again. I wasn't rejecting myself before the recruiters did by not even applying to a job. I wasn't searching from a space of desperation where anything would have been better than where I was (and literally ANYTHING was better than where I was), but wanted my move to be meaningful and was searching for not just positions but organizations that were worth it.

This January, I finally changed jobs, and now work with a company that values their people. I cried several times in the initial months when I experienced my boss and colleagues talk to me and to each other respectfully, without screaming, abusing, threatening or gaslighting - I didn't believe an environment like this could exist. More than job satisfaction, what I have here is job fulfilment.

I haven't been able to blog as much since January, since my work has increased, giving me less time than before. But I still aim to cover one book per month, because WarCrows was and is my lifeline from when I was at my lowest. And for that, I am truly grateful to it, for giving me new life again.

I'm not trying to make this a life lesson, although I guess the only thing I'd probably want you to take away is everyone has their own path to walk in their own way. I just felt I was in a space mentally where I could share this without breaking down, and so I did.

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Speculative Fiction, or Alternate History - AltHist - has always been a favourite read of mine. The art of taking off from a fixed point in history to diverge into an imaginative flight of "what if?" and then either choosing to merge it back again with the original timeline or let it flow into a parallel one gives a writer so many possibilities that when well written, it's a treat for the readers to follow them on the journey

1945: A Novel – Robert Conroy

The scale and number of twists and turns World War 2 had over a span of a few years has been fodder for multiple generations of historians a

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Look Who’s Back – Timur Vermes

Look Who’s Back isn’t a book on World War 2 per se; but it features two aspects that made me want to review it here – the presence of Adolf

It's a book that, though written as satire, becomes increasingly prophetic as you read on and as you look at the world around you today.

Timur Vermes has created a work that starts you off laughing and leaves you very, very afraid towards the end.

https://warcrows.in/2021/01/16/look-whos-back-timur-vermes/

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March, 1939 is well known for what it birthed in the subsequent years. Called the Munich Sellout, the capitulation of Chamberlain after Hitler annexed Czechoslovakia emboldened the latter to put all of his expansionist fantasies to action, and the resultant war saw millions dead, injured or displaced.

Anthony Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See is a testament to those nameless hordes who nevertheless had some individuality to call their own, and their tales resulting from that fateful month.

All the Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr

Once in a while, you come across a story that is extremely simple on the surface, but as you read it and finish it, it keeps tugging at your

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WW2 had repercussions far beyond the actual years of combat, not the least of which was the setting of the global stage for the two giants that emerged to pit their ideology against each other.

Leon Uris takes us through one of the most intensely profound events that shaped the world for the years to come - the Berlin Airlift - and does it in a way only he can.

Armageddon: A Novel of Berlin – Leon Uris

Leon Uris is my literary equivalent of comfort food – I find myself going back to his familiar pages after every 7-8 books. It also helps th

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How do you create not one, but two anti-heroes who are so deliciously grey that they spawn a book series and one of them even gets immortalized on the silver screen by THE Michael Caine?

Jack Higgins shows us exactly how in The Eagle has Landed!

The Eagle has Landed – Jack Higgins

WW2 may have been won by the Allies, but even today the scribes of the victors cannot stop themselves from paying backhanded compliments to

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Tussen Stasies - Between Stations in Afrikaans - was a much more fitting title for the book than The Girl from the Train, following the main character's frequent identity changes and the limbo she finds herself in

Irma Joubert blends history, religion, morality and love into a beautiful, poignant tale that reminds us of what it means to be human above all

https://warcrows.in/2020/11/16/the-girl-from-the-train-irma-joubert/

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One of the first books I read about World War 1, and it was a definite heavyweight! Sebastian Faulks brings the trenches of 1914 alive with his words

Rereading my own post after almost a year, I could see a definite evolution in my own writing style as well. It's exhilarating to see my own journey here through these words!

Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks

World War 2, by dint of being fought at a time when technological advancements made it possible to document, share and preserve information

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Wartime England, a ruthlessly brilliant spy, a determined spycatcher, and an explosive secret that could change the course of the War - Ken Follett's masterpiece checks every one of the thriller must-haves, and boy does he deliver!

The Eye of the Needle – Ken Follett

The 1960s and 70s were the heydays of thriller writers. Agatha Christie, Frederick Forsyth, Dick Francis and a lot of others were the toast

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A tale that is so simple when you read it first, and then subtly takes on shades and nuances that leave you breathless as you approach its soul shattering ending

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas – John Boyne

There are some books that simply seize you, and the echoes of the words linger with you long after you have turned the last page; The Boy in

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Take a brilliant author with actual wartime experience, throw in an insanely fast paced plot, mix it with unforgettable characters, garnish with drama, and you have a timeless classic in the form of The Guns of Navarone!

The Guns of Navarone – Alistair MacLean

Battle Cry may have been the very first book I read in this genre, but The Guns of Navarone was the first ever war movie I watched as a kid,

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Mila 18 is among my most favourite books. The characters, the historical setting, the almost perfect blend of fact and fiction, all of it make for an immensely immersive read

Mila 18 – Leon Uris

As far as historic fiction goes, Mila 18 is for me THE definitive book in the genre. The story is based on a real-life incident (the Warsaw

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My second post, on the much acclaimed Band of Brothers

Looking back at it, with so much writing done between then and now, the thought definitely arises that I would've written it in a very different manner today. But that's the whole point.

Band of Brothers – Stephen E. Ambrose

Band of Brothers (full title Band of Brothers, E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne: From Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle Nest) was one of t

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I first started writing a year ago, when I decided to merge my love for history, reading and writing and create a blog where I spoke about books, both fiction and non-fiction, related to the World Wars

This was my very first post, back when I was still figuring out the look and feel of my posts as well as my writing style (even more so than now)

Battle Cry – Leon Uris

Battle Cry holds a special place in my heart. It was the first book I ever read from the Historic Fiction genre and has been instrumental in