Authors in War

Authors in War Many of the authors that served in various real-life wars (and survived) wrote stories that are at least somewhat based on their own experiences. Some of them are outright memoirs or fictionalized accounts of their exploits.

World War One

• Henri Barbusse, served in France (Under Fire[?])
• Robert Graves, infantry officer in the Royal Welch Fusiliers (Goodbye to all that[?])
• Jaroslav Hasek, served in Austrian and Czech armies (The Good Soldier Schweik[?])
• Thomas E. Lawrence[?], Arabian Lawrence (Seven Pillars of Wisdom)
• Erich Maria Remarque, infantry soldier, wounded in Passendale[?] (All Quiet on the Western Front)

Spanish Civil War

• George Orwell, served in the Republican side (Homage to Catalonia)

World War Two

• J. G. Ballard, interned boy in a Shanghai (Empire of the Sun[?]]
• Pierre Boulle, in British Special Forces (Bridge on the River Kwai[?])
• Samuel Fuller[?] – (The Big Red One)
• Sven Hassel, Danish-born penal regiment soldier
• Joseph Heller, served in 12th Air Force (Catch-22)
• Alistair MacLean, in the Royal Navy (H.M.S. Ulysses[?])
• Norman Mailer, served in South Pacific (The Naked and the Dead[?])
• Harry Martinson, Swedish volunteer in Winter War (Verklighet Till Döds)
• Leon Uris, in United States Marine Corps (Battle Cry[?])
• Gore Vidal, in US Army (Williwaw[?])
• Kurt Vonnegut, US infantry soldier, survived bombing of Dresden as a POW (Slaughterhouse Five)
• Evelyn Waugh, easy time nominally in Royal Marines (Men at Arms[?], The End of the Battle[?])

Hardly a conclusive list