12 Memoirs That Demonstrate the Horrors of War

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Much of human history is steeped in conflict. From isolated skirmishes to global bloodshed, people have gone through a lot of wars.

In all these conflicts, many have suffered the worst experiences humanity can possibly endure. The physical and mental burden they shoulder rarely go away—affecting their lives even years after the war has ended.

Memoirs About War

From a literary standpoint, a war survivor’s experiences and perspectives can help civilians better understand the nature of war. While a lot of media often dramatize death and destruction, reading about a person who has endured them firsthand can be a sobering experience.

Below are memoirs from actual people—soldiers, correspondents, or civilians—who have faced the horrors of war and lived to tell the tale.

1. The Hooligans of Kandahar by Joseph Kassabian

A squad of American soldiers is assigned to the city of Kandahar, where they are tasked to train the Afghan National Police and help rebuild the country. But many of the people they’re supposed to instruct are connected to the Taliban. Those who aren’t are addicts, illiterate, or child traffickers.

Part of the team is 21-year-old Joseph Kassabian, who must lead a team of soldiers who aren’t even old enough to drink. And they’re about to learn that things can still get worse in an already war-torn city.

2. A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

Forced to flee his village, then 12-year-old Ishmael was taken up by an army unit and forced to use guns and drugs. For three years, he was both an accessory and witness to countless acts of violence, until UNICEF managed to rescue him and put him on a path of peace.

Children being taught war is one of the worst issues being tackled by the world today. This is a first-hand account of someone who was thrown into such a hell and survived.

3. Bravo Two Zero by Andy McNab

It was a top-secret mission. A squad of soldiers was tasked to infiltrate enemy lines, led by Sergeant Andy McNab. Eight set out but only five came back.

With no comms to the outside and surrounded by enemies, the group must stay undetected while figuring out how to destroy the missiles they’re still trying to locate.

4. With the Old Breed by E.B. Sledge

Enamored with America’s heroes, Eugene B. Sledge joined the Marines a year after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He was running on patriotism, courage, and idealism. And then he was thrown into the battlefield that was Peleliu.

Survival became the foremost goal. By the time he was assigned to Okinawa, he was already a combat vet. Inside is the personal story of his experiences in the Pacific Theater, and the actions that gave him the name, Sledgehammer.

5. They Called Us Enemy by George Takei et al.

Long before George Takei captured everyone’s hearts as Hikaru Sulu, he was a four-year-old boy experiencing the effects of World War II. With tensions high after Pearl Harbor’s bombing, people of Japanese ancestry were viewed with distrust and hatred.

Forced into internment camps, he and his family face uncertainty and fear. When it’s their own country against them, how can they expect to survive?

6. Madness Visible by Janine di Giovanni

Janine di Giovanni was a senior foreign correspondent working for The Times of London. Tasked to cover the breakup of Yugoslavia, she witnessed first-hand the brutalities of war in the Balkans.

On the ground, di Giovanni experiences raids and bombings while documenting the atrocities committed by competing armies. She examines all of these in sharp detail, from soldiers who let go of their moral compass, to women and children driven to despair from being caught in the middle.

7. First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung

Loung Ung lived a comfortable life in Phnom Penh, one of seven children by a high-ranking government official. Then  Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge storm the city, forcing Ung’s family to flee and hide their identity and privileged backgrounds.

Eventually, the family disperses in order to survive. Inside is Ung’s story of how she turned from a daughter with a pampered lifestyle to a child soldier chained to a work camp for orphans.

8. The Recollections of Rifleman Harris by Benjamin Harris

One of the few surviving reports of military life in the Napoleonic era, this book follows the service of Benjamin Harris. Once a simple shepherd’s son, he finds himself a soldier of the Army of Reserve.

As an ordinary soldier, Harris has no knowledge of military strategies, only of what’s currently happening in front of him. From joining the 95th Regiment of Foot to the Peninsula War in Spain and Portugal, we see how he fights through skirmishes, ill-fated campaigns, disease, and malnutrition.

9. I Saw It by Keiji Nakazawa

On August 6, 1945, Kenji Nakazawa sees a B-29 plane overhead, which drops an object to the ground. Everything explodes and Kenji is knocked unconscious. Waking up, he discovers his house destroyed and his family dead, save for his mother and brother.

On August 15, 1945, World War II ends and Kenji and his family must find a way to recover. Here, he documents how the war affected his family, and how manga became his weapon against the atomic bomb.

10. I Will Bear Witness by Victor Klemperer

Classified as a Jew and known as a man of letters, Victor Klemperer was subjected to increasingly alarming violence and restrictions as Hitler consolidated his power over Germany. Despite the danger to his life, he considered it his duty to keep a detailed account of Germany and its gradual fall to Nazism.

From the greengrocer to the fishmonger, he observes the thoughts, actions, and motivations of ordinary Germans about the country’s current state—all while dealing with his life falling apart from Nazi indignities.

Why Read War Autobiographies?

Like most autobiographies, war memoirs are written as a way for the author to impart their experiences to others. They give readers a chance to take a glimpse of another person’s life and perhaps learn a lesson while at it.

They also function as a record of memories about situations where humanity either experiences its lowest or highest points. You’ll frequently read about atrocities committed for violence’s sake but also sacrifices made at great personal cost.

And while fiction can create the most visceral depictions of war, they still pale from events that actually happened. You can view fiction through a barrier of make-believe, but nonfictional tales of war hold the author’s raw emotions and experiences.

What’s your favorite war memoir? Share it in the comments below!

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