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Peace (Not War)

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
A young man enlists with his classmates in the German army of World War I. As war rages on, he holds fast to a steadfast idea--he must fight against the principles of hate that meaninglessly pits young men of the same generation but different uniforms against each other.

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Joseph Heller's classic satire on the insanity of war was set in the closing months of World War II. It is the story of a bombardier named Yossarian, who is frantic and furious because thousands of people he hasn't even met keep trying to kill him.

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
To make sure humans win the next encounter with aliens, the world government has taken to breeding military geniuses -- and then training them in the arts of war...

Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
Richie Perry, Lobel, Johnson, Brunner, and Peewee are all in Vietnam. They came there for different reasons, but now they share a single dream -- getting out alive.

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
This classic novel set in the midst of the Spanish Civil War, chronicles an American fighting against the fascists. In a three day period, the book focuses on the toll war takes on people lives.

I Had Seen Castles by Cynthia Rylant
After the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, the main character of this book wants to fight for his country. When he falls in love with a girl who is against all war, his beliefs are compromised. He still enlists--but what will his consequences be?

Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo
Armless, legless, and faceless, a young American terribly maimed in WWI explains the cruel and unforgiving aftermath of war.

The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
Henry Fleming had no idea how horrible war really was. Attacks came from all sides, bullets flew, bombs crashed....He had to make a difficult decision: save himself by running from the enemy and deserting his friends or fight, be brave, and risk his life.

Slap Your Sides by M.E. Kerr
Life in their Pennsylvania hometown changes for Jubal Shoemaker and his family when his older brother becomes a conscientious objector during World War II.

Slaughterhouse-Five or the Children's Crusade: A Duty Dance With Death by Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut's absurdist classic novel introduces us to Billy Pilgrim, a man who becomes 'unstuck in time' after he is abducted by aliens. Follow Pilgrim simultaneously through all phases of his life, concentrating on his (and Vonnegut's) experience as an American prisoner of war who witnesses the firebombing of Dresden.

The Things They Carried : A Work of Fiction by Tim O'Brien
A collection of interrelated short pieces relates the alienation and isolation of the men fighting in Vietnam.

The War Prayer by Mark Twain
Written during the Philippine-American War, the setting of The War Prayer is a patriotic church service held to send the town's young men off to war. The themes of war are juxtaposed as we see prayers for our soldiers versus prayers for the destruction of others.