Rating: 
Summary: An archetype.........
Review: I've read many WWII-related novels and works of non-fiction over the years. Therefore, I'm somewhat surprised it took me this long to arrive at Herman Wouk. Winds of War is a sweeping, magnificent epic that captured me in a way few novels do. Herman Wouk tells the story of a fictional USN family as the events leading up to America's entry into war cast them hither and yon. London, Berlin, Moscow, Pearl Harbor, New York City, Rome, Manila, and Washington DC all figure prominently as do the leaders of each Axis and Allied country. Having read much about WWII, I especially enjoyed Wouk's flawless chronology and the detail with which it was adorned. Indeed, one could absorb a better understanding of the WWII event timeline from Winds of War than from many non-fictional accounts. I do most of my reading at night before sleep. Winds of War had me looking forward to bedtime on my commute home from work. I loved this book. I loved it's character formation, it's pace, it's geographical range, and it's towering level of suspense. Every ingredient required for a memorable epic is present in an impeccable weave. Winds of War rates 5 stars and more.
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Summary: An Incredible Book
Review: Every Herman Wouk book I have read has been incredible, but this one takes first prize. The Winds of War is a work of historical fiction about the lead up to the outbreak of World War II in Europe (it had, of course already begun in Asia between Japan and China and other Asian neighbors) and the effect of the war on an American military family. It ends when America enters the war. The sequel, War and Remembrance continues the story through the end of the war. The main character, Victor Henry, a Commander in the United States Navy is sent to Germany just before the beginning of the war as a naval attache in the American embassy. He is the gruff career military man with compassion and love just below the surface and easily recognized by anyone except his family. His wife Rhoda is a Washington, DC socialite who was captivated by Victor but is now restless in her life as an officer's wife. Victor and Rhoda have three children, Warren, the eldest who follows his father into the Navy and puts in for flight training, a daughter who is a less developed character and the aptly named Byron, a dreamer and a sensitive man who bridles under his father's influence and flees college to Siena, Italy, where he becomes an assistant to the American Jewish writer, Aaron Jastrow and falls in love with his daughter Natalie. Victor Henry has something of Zelig in him and is a bit player in many important events of the time. He attends a weekend retreat of high-ranking Nazis and has meetings with FDR. Byron's employer Aaron Jastrow is a complex man, both running from his roots as a Yeshiva boy in Poland, and the product of those roots. Natalie is a perfect picture of an American ex-pat woman living in Europe (first Paris than Italy) in the heyday of Americans living abroad. And all of us can empathize with Byron, the young man who has not yet found his way in the world. All these characters are set against the backdrop of the precursor to war and the beginning of the war. For instance, one of the best sections of the book is an extremely harrowing but vivid section in which Byron, Natalie and Natalie's lover get stuck in Poland as the Nazis begin their occupation of that country. The fact that Wouk can seamlessly weave this web of characters into the tumultuous time in the late 1930s and early 1940s is a testament to a great author. Indeed, I am writing this review at least 10 years after finishing the book, yet it is all vivid in my mind. One final note that deserves mention: Wouk treats us to several sections of a fictional book within a book. After the war, Victor Henry translates a book by a German World War II general. Wouk intersperses excerpts of this fictional book throughout the story, providing a seemingly totally realistic view from a German nationalist who fought for the Nazis (although was not a Nazi himself). A must read for anyone who would describe himself or herself as any of the following: (a) a history or historical fiction fan, (b) a fan of epic romance, (c) anyone interested in World War II, (d) anyone interested in the Navy.
Rating:
Summary: first-rate historical novel!!
Review: For someone interested in long novels and history, this is a heaven-sent book, rich in imagination and historical facts. I wonder what prompted Mr Wouk to write this book. There is no match for it in the literary world !!
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Summary: Should Be Required Reading For All High School Students
Review: This magnificent book and its sequel, War and Remembrance, ought to be read by every person too young to have lived the events recorded here. It is a wonderfully readable history, with terrifically developed characters and meticulously researched historical references. In fact, my dad, a World War II veteran, found this book to be a compelling read as well, because he fought in southern Europe and was unaware of events in the Pacific and the Eastern front. I have personally read this book over a dozen times and I've enjoyed it every time. The TV miniseries was a pretty good adaptation, but no substitute for the actual read. I'm looking forward to another long vacation soon, so I can read it again. Please, buy this book and read it; you'll never regret it.
Rating:
Summary: "A Thriller"
Review: Many lives would not be the same if it was not for the Henry family. This story is a tale of love, action and adventure. This combination is what makes a good book. The story takes place in 1939, during the beginning of World War 2. It follows the Henry family. A family who was brought up on the Navy. The main character Victor "Pug" Henry a Naval attache to Berlin finds himself caught in the backyard of what will soon be one of the world's biggest leader and maniac. This of course is Adolf Hitler. In fact Victor meets Hitler, Stalin and Churchill and lets not forget he and Franklin D. Roosevelt are very good friends. While Victor is in diplomacy we find his youngest son Byron running for his life in Warsaw, Poland with love interest Natalie Jastrow the niece of the famous author Aaron Jastrow, who wrote A Jew's Jesus. While half of the family is over in the pit of things the other half is over on the home front. Eldest son Warren is training to become a flight aviator and sister working for a famous t.v. show host in New York. As you can see this family can be no more farther a part, but really this war will soon bring them together. This story begins with the invasion of Poland and goes all the way to the attack on Pearl Harbor. A thriller 'till the end. The Winds of War is a winner.
I really enjoyed this book. It was probably one of the greatest books that I have ever read. It was a big accomplishment being that it was over 1000 pages. Even though it was a slow read and even a little bit hard to understand at time it still did no let me put it down. It is real easy to get into it because there is so much to think about that it is. All in all this was a really great book!
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: Herman Wouk does a incredible job of weaving his own characters into the events leading up to Pearl Harbor and America's enterance into World War Two. I also recommend the sequal WAR AND REMEMBRANCE
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Summary: THE GREAT AMERICAN WORLD WAR 2 NOVEL(S)
Review: There are 4 components a writer needs to write: Style, Theme, Character Development, and Storytelling Ability. All writers have these traits in varying degrees, but no writer has ever been called truly GREAT without having an abundance of Storytelling Ability. This is paramount; if you can't hook the reader it doesn't matter how jazzy you write or how noble is your theme. You must be able to tell a good story. Our greatest, and most popular writers, have always understood this: Hemingway, Miller, Wolfe (both), Bellow, Stephen King. Great storytellers. Seated in the front row of this class is Herman Wouk, an enormously popular writer who, despite his Pulitzer Prize for "The Caine Mutiny", has never been considered great, in the sense that these others have. That's a true shame. Wouk can tell a story---and I mean a WHOPPER, an EPIC in the true sense of the word---like nobody else from his generation. "The Winds of War" is part one of his absolute masterpiece, a tsunami tale of adventure, tragedy, romance, death, birth...you name it, it's in there. The story of the Henry family, headed by Victor "Pug" Henry, a Captain in the U.S. Navy, as it spreads across the globe during World War Two. This is a virtuoso performance. Wouk knits the personal stories of the Henry clan together with factual history, using letters, quotes from speeches & books, anything he can think of to put you THERE, smack dab in the middle of the action. And you are there: you follow Pug to meetings with Roosevelt, Hitler, Churchill, Stalin, and on and on. Putting fictional characters in the room with real people is a huge risk, it almost never works, but Wouk pulls it off with charm to spare. You're in Warsaw when the Nazis invade, you're at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attack, you're in Rome when Mussolini declares war. Wouk sucks you into the narrative so completely you forget that Pug's travels are pretty damn impossible. Who cares? He's a HERO, it's his job to be in impossible situations, and Pug does his job like a champion. All of his characters are absolutely fleshed out, the dialogue is nearly ear-perfect, the historical events build momentum like no book you'll ever read...forget all the pretenders to the throne, from Mailer to Jones and all the little men in between. THIS IS THE GREAT NOVEL OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR. This is good old-fashioned storytelling genius, the kind of book nobody writes anymore because Style has taken center stage in the last 50 years, sadly. (I blame Joyce) If more people would read this book, and its sequel "War And Remembrance", maybe we could get back to what writing---in fact language itself---was created for in the first place: TO TELL A STORY. Check out Herman Wouk, one of the greats.
Rating: 
Summary: Good entertainment, as long as it's not taken to seriously.
Review: This book, as well as it's sequel, are good for light, entertaining reading. Definately hard to put down. But it's many examples of ridiculousness border on the absurd, with the main one being expected to believe a person of the status and rank of the main character would have the experiences he does.
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Summary: BRILLIANT NOVEL
Review: This book is . . . absolutely breathtaking. It is no less than a modern masterpiece. Rating it makes me think that all of those other books I have rated as "5" were not worthy of the score. _The Winds of War_ covers a broad range of areas (all around the world, covering the global war) keeping the reader wherever the action is happening, but without always staying on the actual battlefied. The story of the novel covers the Henry family as its members go about their ways during the war, bringing them to various locations and situations. Pug, the main protagonist, for instance, gets a chance to meet Roosevelt, Hitler, and many more- and that isn't even giving away anything as the book is so long. But long, in this case, is a wonderful thing, as it mean the story continues, so that the reader does not ever get the sense that there is not enough (though, still, I eagerly await reading the sequal, _War and Remembrance_). The book has a huge cast, but they are all such different characters that they never get mixed up, which is an amazing feat with so many influential people in the novel. Wouk is an expert at what he does. I have done nothing thus far but gush praise for the book, and most of it is just senseless ramblimgs, but I am unable to do anything else, as I did not identifiy any flaw with the perfect storytelling and am not competant to possibly give it justice and so am reduced to just lauding it without clear reason. But the sheer power of this book overwhelms me and twists my toungue (keyboard) in such a way that I cannot truly explain its wonder.
Rating:
Summary: historical fiction at its best
Review: This book was a lively, vibrant account of WWII from the perspectives of diverse, well-developed characters. _Winds of War_ recounted the great historical events occuring from 1938-39 until the end of 1941, but presented them in a way that reflected believable sentiments real people felt at the time. The characters of the Jastrow family were particularly interesting for me, who as a Jew, try to understand the element in which they found themselves trying to escape Europe, and how they responded to it.
The protagonist, an ambitious and succesful naval officer is the patriarch of the model naval WASP family. He maneuvers through the thickest power circles in his time with tact and ease, and is really a lot of fun to imagine.
Wouk basically conjures a bunch of extremely gifted characters, some beautiful, some brilliant, and weaves them into a fascinating narrative of the most influential years of the 20th century.
Historical fiction at its best, if you want a fun yet accurate portrayal of WWII, this is a good pick.
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