The Winds of War

By: Herman Wouk

Narrated by: Kevin Pariseau

Length: 45 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

A masterpiece of historical fiction, this is the Great Novel of America's "Greatest Generation".

Herman Wouk's sweeping epic of World War II, which begins with The Winds of War and continues in War and Remembrance, stands as the crowning achievement of one of America's most celebrated storytellers. Like no other books about the war, Wouk's spellbinding narrative captures the tide of global events - and all the drama, romance, heroism, and tragedy of World War II - as it immerses us in the lives of a single American family drawn into the very center of the war's maelstrom.

Also listen to War and Remembrance.

©1971 Herman Wouk (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Wouk's real genius lies not just in the narrative power of his books, but in his empathy with the people and the times of which he writes…. The genius of The Winds of War and War and Remembrance is that they not only tell the story of the Holocaust, but tell it within the context of World War II, without which there is no understanding it." ( The Washington Post)

The best reading performance ever!

This was a fantastic book. I was a little nervous because of the length, but man it flew by! The narrator did a fantastic job I wish I could give ten starts just for that.

Epic historical drama

At over 100 hours, this audiobook and its sequel are a commitment, a 20th century War and Peace. Over 2000 pages, Herman Wouk spins both a family saga and a sort of “bearing witness” document, a detailed history of World War Two that leaves no one excused for humanity’s greatest calamity (so far) and the many acts of blindness on both sides that allowed it to unfold as it did

The fictional narrative centers around an American naval family headed by one Victor “Pug” Henry, a stolid, unpretentious career officer of classic mold. Yearning for a battleship command, Victor is instead sent to be the US’s naval attache in 1939 Berlin, at a time well before most Americans had any desire to get embroiled in another European mess. Because of his thorough reports, Victor finds himself coming to the attention of FDR, who makes him a high-powered informal go-between. Meanwhile, Victor’s two sons have their own stories -- one training as a Navy pilot, while the other “finds himself” in Italy, where he gets involved with a Jewish author and his lovely, headstrong niece. These two, trapped in Europe, become significant viewpoint characters in their own right. Others enter the narrative, too, including Victor’s wife, who is beginning to chafe at the sacrifices of being a Navy wife, and his daughter, who takes a job at a NYC radio station. While most of the action happens behind the lines, we do get a few tastes of the shooting war.

Wouk’s style is a bit nostalgic, but the characters are well-written and credible. For all the contrivances in the plot -- such as Victor managing to meet Hitler, FDR, Churchill, *and* Stalin -- Wouk makes us believe that such path-crossings were plausible. Maybe one family wasn’t in so many places, but history did have plenty of small actors who played such roles. In any case, the small details of the characters’ thoughts and actions give events a full, living color. Sometimes Wouk pulls the camera back and explains in a clear, compelling way what was happening on the broader stage, which was a counterpoint that appealed to me, since the protagonists seldom have all the facts themselves. It’s to his credit that almost nothing feels irrelevant -- personalities and family lives seem to dovetail neatly into greater events and vice-versa.

No, Herman Wouk isn’t Tolstoy, but he’s certainly a writer with a strong grasp of the forces of history, gentle insight into human behavior, the ability to connect small-scale events with large ones, and a storyteller’s gift for putting it all in familiar terms, through the eyes of some memorable characters.

What pleased me most about this book, though, and a big reason for my enthusiastic recommendation, is its absence of simplistic rah-rah patriotism. Instead, Wouk soberly examines the causes of the war and the dangers of nationalism and ideology. He also notes the hypocrisies of British and American imperialism, and the self-absorbed apathy of both countries in the face of fascism’s self-image of surety. One of the most fascinating features of the novel is the inclusion of the memoirs of a German general, translated decades after the war by Pug himself. There’s a creepy familiarity to his critiques of the “decadent” West, and one begins to remember that evil is often rationalized away, sometime quite convincingly, by those who worship strength and power. This mattered at the time the author was writing, around the height of the Vietnam War, and it matters now.

Ultimately, this novel and its sequel are a rich mix of intimate and broad-scale human themes, 20th century history, and wistful nostalgia for a time when the American middle class family embodied all that was hopeful. Audiobook narrator Kevin Pariseau rises to the occasion, with some impressive imitations of certain famous figures, a range of accents, and a narration voice that has both friendliness and gravity. Put the sequel on standby, because you’ll want to know what happens next.

Don't like war novels? Read this.

What did you love best about The Winds of War?

The fact that the plot is structured around one family, from the beginning of the war until its end. I have never really liked war books, and I have never really liked history either. However, Mr. Wouk has written two superb books (this one is in two parts, as is the "sequel," War and Remembrance) which in total make about one hundred hours of listening. If you told me that I would love these books before I read them, I would have been skeptical at best. However, once you get into it, these stories are fascinating, very moving and highly instructive. The narration is a little bit stiff, but that is nit-picking, frankly. The Henry family is a classic American family. Their experiences in and around WWII are the stuff of high adventure, romance, moments of true despair, and perfectly descriptive of the many emotional forces that bind families together and, occasionally, tear them apart. This is a masterpiece. It is great writing. Don't be put off by the length of the books, because after a while you will be deeply grateful that Mr. Wouk has made the phenomenal efforts necessary to put down everything he needs to say. This is the way to learn history, and a number of other topics.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Winds of War?

There are so many. I think that the wild car ride that Natalie and Byron and several others take in the vast plains of Russian territory: this is a marvelously well-told saga of how frightening wars can be, and of how much two people can love each other, and of the heroism that arises from Byron's love and dedication to his young bride.

What does Kevin Pariseau bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I couldn't read something this long, I don't believe. Mr. Pariseau is very easy to listen to, and he covers a very broad range of scenes with talent and sensitivity. There are numerous accents to master and personalities to depict, and he does them all flawlessly.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I'm just not good at this kind of thing. Plus, boiling down fifty hours of audiobook to two hours of movie: it can't be done. There is too much great stuff here, and you would have to throw out an unsupportable amount of it to condense it so severely. Not a great idea.

Any additional comments?

Read this book, even if you feel that this is the last kind of book that will appeal to you. You will be amazed and delighted at what you learn about the world, and about individual people, and about relationships, and...Have a ball. Thank heaven that the good guys won this one. What a world it would be if we had lost.

Storytelling + History = Worth the time!

Would you listen to The Winds of War again? Why?

Probably not! But that's not a slam, it's a saga, but not...an Epic

What other book might you compare The Winds of War to and why?

Michener's books

What about Kevin Pariseau’s performance did you like?

Excellent command of multiple characters/intonations - superb actor

If you could rename The Winds of War, what would you call it?

Wouldn't. It's a good name.

Any additional comments?

Brought pre-World War II and beginning of World War II to life through eyes and hearts of one family, making what seems already ancient and long ago deeply personal. An excellent introduction to the era from a very American family/set of eyes.

Wonderful storytelling!

I wondered if this book would feel dated, and at the beginning I thought I wouldn't be able to get past the sexism. However, I quickly got caught up in the story and that is largely because of the wonderful narrator. Keven Pariseau is amazing. He even did well with the famous voices that I knew. He reads this very lengthy book with ease and enthusiasm. The story recounts history in a fascinating and compelling way. I never got tired of listening to the many hours and was totally invested in what would happen to each of the characters. I had a few moments of "Don't go to Pearl Harbor!" and "Leave Europe Right Now, Natalie"--it's great to have the hindsight of now. Do not let the many hours of listening deter you--it's great from beginning to end.

How Many Times Can One Book be Enjoyed?

It surprises me how much I enjoy Mr. Wouk's book every time I read it, and now I have enjoyed the pleasure of listening to it.

Mr. Pariseau is the perfect narrator for this master work, bring every character to life with great talent.

I plan to enjoy this again in the future.

Like Being There

I read this novel in 1983 while in graduate school at Texas A&I University and living Poteet Hall. The miniseries had just started on ABC Television and I was hooked not even realizing that the show was run by Dan Curtis of the Dark Shadows fame. It was such a good miniseries that I remember thinking that the novel should be a "books on tape" (we didn't call them audiobooks back in the day) and, as Joe Walsh would say, here we are now. In any case, why should you give this a listen? Well, the story is simply visceral. Reading or listening (or immersively as I did), one can easily get sucked in and forget about the rest of the world. It's absorbing, and who doesn't want that in a good read or listen? Fair warning though - this puppy is long! 886 pages in print and an ungodly amount of listening time. Still, if you need to escape, this is the way to do it. Oh, and you'll learn a lot about World War II in the process. Herman Wouk didn't fool around researching this novel. Of course, there is plenty of speculation, but it's a novel, for the love of Mike.

Should have listened to the preview!

I love long books especially historical fiction so I couldn't wait to start this book. After the first 30 minutes, I had to switch it off. Please believe me, this is not something I do easily as I hate to waste money. However it was so utterly boring and difficult to follow that I just could not continue! I had trouble following the storyline and connecting with the characters. Had I known, I would not have wasted my credit. Who knows - I may go back to this one again and give it another try - it's unlikely though.

Excellent Performance!

This review is for the audio book version only. The narrator Kevin Pariseau gave an excellent performance and brought this book to life. The book itself is fantastic and one of my favorite reads; I highly recommended for all.

A Masterpiece in Every Way

This sprawling epic follows a group of fictional characters - a family - through a painstakingly researched recreation of the events leading up to the Second World War, in Winds of War, the first volume, and up through the end of the war in the second volume, War and Remembrance. The historical sequence, the actions of world leaders, and the events of the war are detailed and factual, but the main characters and their places in those events are fictional. It's a brilliant device to bring the history we think we know to life, and grounds momentous events in the humanity of individuals trying to cope with the total upheaval of a worldwide conflict and the unimaginable horror of events like the rise of Hitler, the Pearl Harbor attack, the Atomic Bomb, and the Holocaust.

The Audible production is truly a masterful interpretation of a masterwork, primarily due to the monumental work of Kevin Pariseau. He handles a huge cast of characters, with a m??lange of accents - Russian, British, German, Yiddish, Italian, French, several American dialects, and more - with convincing ease, but it was the singing as multiple characters that put the icing on it for me. When Udom sang to the crowd at Theresienstadt before being sent off on the train to Auschwitz, it tore my heart out.

I read these books to gain a deeper grasp of my father's generation, of the sacrifices they made, and of the events that shaped their world view. I came away with so much more than that. My faith in humanity was restored.