This May we commemorate the 80th Anniversary of VE Day, Victory in Europe Day, when German forces' unconditionally surrendered heralding the start of the end of the Second World War. The date will be remembered with a series of ceremonies and celebrations in the UK and across the world. This memorial follows last year's powerful and emotive commemorations of the 80th anniversary of D-Day. 

The events of WWII have inspired so much fiction and non-fiction, with new titles released each year with accounts that providing additional insight or stories with World War II as their backdrop.

Graham Hurley's Spoils of War series is an intelligent, intricatley plotted series of standalone novels that mixes together fact and fiction and is set against some of the most suspenseful and action-packed moments of the second world war. Our series of the month in August 2023, The Spoils of War books continue to be masterful and fascinating, and the latest book Kane is due in June. 

Using extant sources to weave a rich, multifacteted tapestry of the influences that shaped the German air force mentality, Dr Victoria Taylor offers a refreshing and comprehensive new account of the Luffwaffe's real experiences during the Battle of Britain in Eagle Days. With official combat reports, contemporary German newspapera dnthe personal letters and diaries of the crew Taylor transforms the Luftwaffe from cartoonish antagonist to flawed-yet-formidable opponent for the RAF's 'Finest Hour'. 

Released in 2024, eighty years on from pivotal 6th June 1944 when the Allied invasion to reclaim Europe from the Nazis began, Garrett M. Graff's D-DAY The Oral History provides a fresh, significant and the most intimate re-telling of events to date. With contributions including 700 individual Allied and Axis voices of varying nationalities, D-Day tells the full complex story as the events of the day fade from living memory. Truly an excellent read.

A compelling prequel to Frank McDonough's The Hitler Years, The Wiemar Years  provides a dramatic year by year history of Germany from 1918 to 1933, offering chilling resonances with our world today and concluded in Hitler's accession to power. The series continues to chart the rise and fall of Third Reich under Hitler's hand. 

It is our capacity to love that ensures hope remains when terror and darkness falls. In our collection of Relationship Stories Set Within the Conflict of World War Two we share novels set within the Second World War that highlight a variety of relationships where attachments and emotions sing out in these stories. 

Through the Eyes of Another - World War Two, a German Perspective shares what is says on the tin. Good, evil and everything in-between can be found here, the slide into Nazi control, the horrendous atrocities, the decision to survive, the choice to stand in defiance.

To help young readers understand more about this important moment in history we have gathered together a selection of recommended children's books on LoveReading4Kids.