Rolf Margenau is the author of 8 books. War Story was published in 2021. It is the 58th book I completed reading in 2023.

Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! Due to scenes of violence, mature language, and a few mature situations, I categorize this novel as R. This historical novel follows four young people as they experience World War II. The story primarily weaves the experiences of four survivors: Achem, Horst, Liesel, and Paul. It does touch on others, including Werner Von Braun.

Achem is the youngest at 9 years old. He is of German heritage but has grown up in Connecticut. Though he suffers from his German heritage, he actively supports the war effort as best he can. His story is one of the American Homefront during the war. Finds out that his Uncle Horst is a POW in Mississippi.

Horst is in his twenties and is serving in a Panzer unit of the German Wehrmacht. He sees action in North Africa as a radioman, then a tank commander. Horst surrenders his tank to save his crew. He is among the prisoners transported to the US and is interned in a POW camp in Mississippi. His belief in Hitler and what the Nazis cause faded. He meets Nurse Dora there and falls in love with her.

Liesel was a college Senior when the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor. She had earned her pilot’s license at 16 and had developed a love of aircraft. She joins the WASPs and travels to Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas for training. Disappointed with what she will be offered in that volunteer organization, she leaves Texas for England. At 23, she joined the British ATA (Air Transport Auxiliary).

Paul Schafer was 22 when he graduated from Yale in 1942 with an engineering degree. His heritage makes him fluent in German. Because of that, coupled with his interest in electronics, he ended up in the Army Signal Corps. That background destines him for assignment at Bletchley Park.

I enjoyed the 9.5+ hours I spent reading this 343-page WWII historical fiction novel. It provides some insight into the home front aspects of WWII. I like the cover art. It gives a montage preview of the book. I give this novel a rating of 4 out of 5.

You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

Loved this book. Lots of interesting information to digest. This is a great read for anyone who loves to read about history. Very well written

Terrific insights into internment camps as well as other perspectives of war. I really liked the different characters who told their stories with such descriptive language. It is always helpful to see the experience of war from different points of view and I think the author does a great job of putting the reader in different shoes.

War story is an interesting idea of the telling of WWII through 4 different characters. Unfortunately, the story gets lost in to many details and to much jumping back and forth. It is long and overly detailed. The characters are hard to follow. Nazi Germany is a story many know and as a lover of historical fiction I was excited for this book. Margenau missed the mark and became to wordy and made it hard to follow.

Junge was only nine years old and living in New Haven, Connecticut when the world went to war. His parents were from Germany and had family still living there. Horst was a loyal German and a tank commander for the Afrika Korps. Liesel loved to fly and worshipped Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. Paul was an engineering graduate who entered Officer Candidate School. World War II is explored through their experiences and how it touched their lives and their families.

When Horst is captured and sent to a POW camp in Mississippi it is not what he expected. Along with his tank crew he settles into the camp’s routine. They follow the progress of the war through newsreels and are faithful to Hitler until they see the destruction caused by the war and learn of the extermination camps. Liesel gets her chance to fly when she joins the Air Transport in London. Paul is stationed at Bletchley Park to work with Enigma. His fluency in German opens opportunities as an interrogator in Tunis and ultimately an assignment with the OSS. Each finds love and experiences losses, but it is Junge and his friends Stosh and Inky (Inge) and their growing awareness of the events shaping their world that is the heart of this story. Carefree days with trips to the ballpark or the lake give way to learning to help with ration coupons, collecting aluminum and patching their rubber bicycle tires.

Rolf Margenau’s story exhibits the joys, the fears and the heartbreaks of the time and allows you to become emotionally involved with his characters. This was a wonderful story that kept me awake at night to read just one more chapter and is highly recommended. I would like to thank NetGalley and Books Go Social for allowing my review of this book.

A little confusing at the beginning to keep track of the different characters, but develops nicely to give stories from lesser known parts of ww2. The story of German POWs held in America, the women of the ATA providing a vital piloting service, the secret service work and a child from a German family living in America,. Interesting reading

An interesting story of individuals caught up in the war. Good character development and a decent story line.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I can really recommend WAR STORY by ROLF MARGENAU to anyone who enjoys World War 11 novels. It is exciting and sometimes very sad as we follow the main characters - three Americans with German backgrounds and a German prisoner of war - from 1944 to 1946, with their stories coming together in an interesting way.
We follow a journal written by a nine year old boy, the life of a woman pilot and that of an American engineer seconded by the British for his expertise, and a German tank commander.
We are reminded of Hitler's atrocities, especially towards the Jews, of which many of his soldiers knew nothing, and we see the humane treatment of the German prisoners of war in stark contrast to what went on in the Nazi camps. We also see how hard it was for people of German or Japanese origen who were arbitrarily put in camps and how many people profited from others' hardships.
There is a lot that I found very interesting in this book, all wrapped up in a good story with interesting characters.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from BooksGoSocial. The opinions in this review are completely my own.