Books like 'The Cruel Sea'
Readers who enjoyed The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical action / adventure 20th century military, war & conflict historical-fiction war ww2 military classics nautical
-
Manöver um Feuerland (The Far Side of the World) by Patrick O'Brian
Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsCaptain Jack Aubrey sets sail for Cape Horn, determined to intercept an American frigate before it can wreak havoc on the British whaling trade. As always, he is accompanied by intelligence operative Stephen Maturin, and as always, Aubrey has no idea of what his companion is up to...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction military nautical war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![The Letter of Marque by Patrick O'Brian]()
The Letter of Marque by Patrick O'Brian
Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsCaptain Jack Aubrey, a brilliant and experienced officer, has been struck off the list of post-captains for a crime he did not commit. His old friend Stephen Maturin, usually cast as a ship's surgeon to mask his discreet activities on behalf of British Intelligence, has bought for Aubrey his former ship the Surprise to command as a privateer, more politely termed a letter of marque...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction military nautical war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![Sodan mainingit by Herman Wouk]()
Sodan mainingit by Herman Wouk
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsThese two classic works capture the tide of world events even as they unfold the compelling tale of a single American family drawn into the very center of the war's maelstrom.The multimillion-copy bestsellers that capture all the drama, romance, heroism, and tragedy of the Second World War -- and that constitute Wouk's crowning achievement -- are available for the first time in trade paperback... -
![None Stood Taller: An inspirational WWII story to make your heart soar. (Historical fiction) by Peter Turnham]()
None Stood Taller: An inspirational WWII story to make your heart soar. (Historical fiction) by Peter Turnham
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThis book is a window into Britain's secret wartime past, step through it and this inspirational story of life and love will make your heart soar.It is March 1941, large swathes of the East End of London lie in ruins. Lily Heywood is just one more victim of the Blitz, lying beneath the rubble of her home. An unbreakable spirit, this is not the end for Lily, it is merely the beginning... -
-
![Forest of the Gods by Balys Sruoga]()
Forest of the Gods by Balys Sruoga
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBalys Sruoga was a well-known Lithuanian poet, dramatist, and literary critic. In 1943, professor of Vilnius University, he was deported to Stutthof concentration camp (along with other professors, under the charge of campaigning students against joining the Reich troops)... -
![Eagles Over Britain by Lee Jackson]()
Eagles Over Britain by Lee Jackson
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe German Luftwaffe attacks Britain from the skies.With no allies, she stands alone.Her fate hangs in the balance.As the first Axis aircraft streak across English Channel airspace, so begins a battle for the ages; one that will determine the trajectory of the war... -
![The Commodore by Patrick O'Brian]()
The Commodore by Patrick O'Brian
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsHaving survived a long and desperate adventure in the Great South Sea, Captain Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin return to England to very different circumstances...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction military nautical war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![Nutmeg of Consolation by Patrick O'Brian, Simon Vance]()
Nutmeg of Consolation by Patrick O'Brian, Simon Vance
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsShipwrecked on a remote island and threatened by Malay pirates, Captain Aubrey and crew barely escape before facing a diplomatic crisis at the harrowingly dreadful penal colony in New South Wales...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction military nautical war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![Turn Left for Gibraltar by David Black, James Langton]()
Turn Left for Gibraltar by David Black, James Langton
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAs 1941 draws to a close, brave young men are fighting for freedom in countries across the globe. But for Sub-Lieutenant Harry Gilmour, washed up in neutral Spain alongside ‘interned belligerents’ from both sides of the war, hostilities have come to a pause.Before long, his unlikely comrades must once again become his enemies, and he is back at the frontline of the battle for the Mediterranean... -
![When We Were Brave by Karla M. Jay]()
When We Were Brave by Karla M. Jay
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn WHEN WE WERE BRAVE, we find a conflicted SS officer, Wilhelm Falk, who risks everything to escape the Wehrmacht and get out the message about the death camps. Izaak is a young Jewish boy whose positive outlook is challenged daily as each new perilous situation comes along... -
![The Reverse of the Medal by Patrick O'Brian]()
The Reverse of the Medal by Patrick O'Brian
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsAshore between cruises, Captain Jack Aubrey is persuaded to sink some money into an investment scheme. Soon this innocent decision enmeshes him in various criminal and even treasonous enterprises, which threaten to destroy his entire career. Bad luck? A deliberate plot? Read this latest installment of the Aubrey-Maturin saga to find out...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction military nautical war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![The Thirteen-Gun Salute by Patrick O'Brian]()
The Thirteen-Gun Salute by Patrick O'Brian
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsCaptain Jack Aubrey sets sail for the South China Sea with a new lease on life. Following reinstatement into the Royal Navy. Maturin climbs the Thousand Steps of the sacred crater of the orangutans. A killer typhoon catches Aubrey and his crew trying to work the Diane off a reef...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction military nautical war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![A Code for Tomorrow by John J. Gobbell]()
A Code for Tomorrow by John J. Gobbell
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratings“The sea action is exciting and thoroughly convincing.” —Kirkus Reviews Todd Ingram is back in the fight. After narrowly escaping the Japanese-held Philippines, he is promoted to the destroyer USS Howell.His new assignment puts him in the middle of two epic naval engagements: the Battle of Cape Esperance and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands... -
![Always in my Heart by Ellie Dean]()
Always in my Heart by Ellie Dean
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAs the Japanese begin their assault on Singapore, Sarah Fuller is forced to leave her parents and fianc�, Philip, behind. The long journey to England is fraught with danger, and Sarah and her sister Jane don't even know if their great-aunt is alive, let alone waiting for them. They arrive in Cliffehaven, on the south coast of England, and here Sarah must find work to support them both... -
-
![The Truelove by Patrick O'Brian]()
The Truelove by Patrick O'Brian
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 21 ratingsA British whaler has been captured by an ambitious chief in the sandwich islands at French instigation, and Captain Aubrey, R. N., Is dispatched with the Surprise to restore order. But stowed away in the cable-tier is an escaped female convict. To the officers, Clarissa Harvill is an object of awkward courtliness and dangerous jealousies...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction military nautical war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
![To Wake the Giant: A Novel of Pearl Harbor by Jeff Shaara]()
To Wake the Giant: A Novel of Pearl Harbor by Jeff Shaara
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe New York Times bestselling master of military historical fiction tells the story of Pearl Harbor as only he can in the first novel of a gripping new series set in World War II’s Pacific theater. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt watches uneasily as the world heads rapidly down a dangerous path... -
![Gone to Sea in a Bucket by David Black]()
Gone to Sea in a Bucket by David Black
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsLike all young men of a certain age, Harry Gilmour had his own notion of how a naval battle should be. This wasn’t it.Norway, 1940: Sub Lieutenant Harry Gilmour’s first encounter with battleship action is not the adventure he had hoped for. Faced with a thankless task and ill equipped to handle it, Gilmour’s inexperience leads to a damning allegation. His future hangs in the balance... -
![The Night in Lisbon by Erich Maria Remarque]()
The Night in Lisbon by Erich Maria Remarque
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsHistory and fate collide as the Nazis rise to power in The Night in Lisbon, a classic tale of survival from the renowned author of All Quiet on the Western Front. With the world slowly sliding into war, it is crucial that enemies of the Reich flee Europe at once. But so many routes are closed, and so much money is needed... -
![Call To Arms by W.E.B. Griffin]()
Call To Arms by W.E.B. Griffin
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe attack on Pearl Harbor swept America into the raging heart of the war. The stormy South Pacific presented a daring new challenge, and the men of the Corps were ready to fight. An elite fraternity united by a glorious tradition of courage and honor, the Marine Raiders were bound to a triumphant destiny... -
![Battleground by W.E.B. Griffin]()
Battleground by W.E.B. Griffin
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn this electrifying novel of the U.S. Marine Corps, the master of authentic military action and drama reveals the story of one of the bloodiest conflicts of the Pacific: the epic struggle for Guadalcanal... -
![Line of Fire by W.E.B. Griffin, Dick Hill]()
Line of Fire by W.E.B. Griffin, Dick Hill
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsLine of Firebrings to life a desperate mission of World War 2 that captures the drama and courage of the men who fought it.Two Marines, reporting on Japanese air activity, are trapped on a small Coastwatcher island. A special rescue team is assembled to save them—under enemy gunsight. It is an exciting and powerful story of real heroism that only W.E.B. Griffin could tell.. -
![Behind the Lines by W.E.B. Griffin]()
Behind the Lines by W.E.B. Griffin
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsBehind the Lines is W. E. B. Griffin's powerful novel of World War II -- and the courage, patriotism, and sacrifice of those who fought it.By 1942, the Japanese have routed the outnumbered American forces and conquered the Philippines. But deep in the island jungles, the combat continues. Refusing to surrender, a renegade Army officer organizes a resistance force and vows to fight to the last man... -
![The Commodore by P.T. Deutermann]()
The Commodore by P.T. Deutermann
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsP. T. Deutermann's previous novels of the US Navy in World War II - Pacific Glory, Ghosts of Bungo Suido, and Sentinels of Fire - have been acclaimed by reviewers and readers for their powerful drama and authentic detail. In The Commodore, the Navy in 1942-1943 is fighting a losing battle against Japan for control of the Solomon Islands... -
![Blue at the Mizzen by Patrick O'Brian]()
Blue at the Mizzen by Patrick O'Brian
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsNapoleon has been defeated at Waterloo, and the ensuing peace brings with it both the desertion of nearly half of Captain Aubrey's crew and the sudden dimming of Aubrey's career prospects in a peacetime navy...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction military nautical war 20th-century action-adventure adult -
-
![Back to Battle by Max Hennessy, John Harris]()
Back to Battle by Max Hennessy, John Harris
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe crescendo of war; a crushing blow; a path to redemption... Peacetime political maneuverings are threatening Kelly Maguire’s ambitions for captain’s rank. But the outbreak of war, and the need for those who are willing to risk everything, changes all that... -
![Pocketful of Dreams: A Heart-Warming East End Saga by Jean Fullerton]()
Pocketful of Dreams: A Heart-Warming East End Saga by Jean Fullerton
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsJean Fullerton, queen of the saga, returns with a charming new war-time series. It's 1939, and the Brogan family of London's East End are ready to show Hitler what-for. But things don't seem so rosy when rationing, evacuation, and air-raids start to put this larger-than-life family to the test... -
![The Cape Raider by Justin Fox]()
The Cape Raider by Justin Fox
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsA fight to the death in foreign seas…1940Scarred – physically and emotionally – by the brutal warfare at Dunkirk, Jack Pembroke decides to leave his home in England to join his father, Admiral Pembroke, in the South African Cape... -
![The Eagle's Claw: A Novel of the Battle of Midway by Jeff Shaara]()
The Eagle's Claw: A Novel of the Battle of Midway by Jeff Shaara
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsNATIONAL BESTSELLER - In a "riveting" (Booklist) tale that picks up where To Wake the Giant left off, Jeff Shaara transports us to the Battle of Midway in another masterpiece of military historical fiction.Spring 1942. The United States is reeling from the blow the Japanese inflicted at Pearl Harbor. But the Americans are determined to turn the tide... -
![Rosa's Gold - A Story of Holocaust Echoes by Ray Kingfisher]()
Rosa's Gold - A Story of Holocaust Echoes by Ray Kingfisher
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsNicole Sutton is a young girl with problems. A tragic car accident has taken away her brother, and ripped her parents' marriage apart. Together with her mother she moves to a new house, a new town, and a life she never wanted. In the dusty cellar of the house she stumbles upon a well-worn notebook – the scribbled war memoirs of Mac, an old soldier... -
![No Less Than Victory: A Novel of World War II by Jeff Shaara]()
No Less Than Victory: A Novel of World War II by Jeff Shaara
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAfter the success at Normandy, the Allied commanders are confident that the war in Europe will soon be over. But in December 1944, in the Ardennes Forest, the Germans launch a ruthless counteroffensive that begins the Battle of the Bulge. The Führer will spare nothing to preserve his twisted vision of a “Thousand Year Reich,” but stout American resistance defeats the German thrust... -
![Flying Colours by C.S. Forester]()
Flying Colours by C.S. Forester
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsForced to surrender his ship, the Sutherland, after a long and bloody battle, Captain Horatio Hornblower now bides his time as a prisoner in a French fortress...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction military nautical war 20th-century action-adventure audiobook -
![The Longest Echo by Eoin Dempsey]()
The Longest Echo by Eoin Dempsey
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAgainst the backdrop of WWII-ravaged Italy comes a powerful and emotional novel of love, survival, justice, and second chances by the bestselling author of White Rose, Black Forest.Occupied Italy, 1944. In the mountain regions south of Bologna, Liliana Nicoletti’s family finds escaped POW James Foley behind German lines... -
![The Iceman by P.T. Deutermann]()
The Iceman by P.T. Deutermann
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe Iceman is an action-packed World War II military thriller featuring a daring United States Navy submarine commander during the Pacific war in 1942-43.In 1942, off the port city of St. Nazaire in occupied France, a United States Navy S-class submarine assigned to the Royal Navy lurks just outside the borders of the minefield protecting a German U-boat base... -
![The Little Ship: A heart-warming, sweeping wartime saga full of heart which will stay with you for ages by Margaret Mayhew]()
The Little Ship: A heart-warming, sweeping wartime saga full of heart which will stay with you for ages by Margaret Mayhew
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSet largely on the Essex coast before the war, Matt, Guy, and their young cousin Lizzie meet up for holidays and bum around in an old boat. Guy is the eldest, handsome, skilled at everything, a tad selfish. Matt is quieter and has a crippled right arm... -
-
![Final Harbor: Volume 1 by Harry Homewood]()
Final Harbor: Volume 1 by Harry Homewood
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA DEADLY GAME OF HIDE AND SEEK She was a monster, sleek and gleaming, designed to strike without warning like the dreaded shark. She was the USS Mako, as fearless and bold as any submarine that ever prowled the blue Pacific. Her mission: seek out and destroy the hitherto invincible ships of the Japanese Imperial Navy — and revenge the earlier defeats of a long and dirty war... -
![Sentinels of Fire by P.T. Deutermann]()
Sentinels of Fire by P.T. Deutermann
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsP.T. Deutermann's World War II navy series began with the award-winning Pacific Glory, followed by the brilliantly reviewed Ghosts of Bungo Suido. His new novel Sentinels of Fire tells the tale of a lone destroyer, the USS Malloy, part of the Allied invasion forces attacking the island of Okinawa and the Japanese home islands... -
![Operation Easy Street by William Peter Grasso]()
Operation Easy Street by William Peter Grasso
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsPort Moresby was bad. Buna was worse.The WW2 alternative history adventure of Jock Miles continues as MacArthur orders American and Australian forces to seize Buna in Papua New Guinea. Once again, the Allied high command underestimates the Japanese defenders, plunging Jock and his men into a battle they’re not equipped to win...Categorized as:
historical-fiction military war ww2 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history -
![Paris at First Light by Amanda Lees]()
Paris at First Light by Amanda Lees
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsParis, 1944: secret agent Juliette is on her most dangerous mission of the war so far. But then her children are kidnapped, and to get them back she may have to commit the ultimate betrayal – that of France itself…Four years ago, when France fell to the Nazis, Juliette made the ultimate sacrifice, leaving behind her two precious children to join the Resistance and defend her country... -
![Sharpe's Waterloo by Bernard Cornwell]()
Sharpe's Waterloo by Bernard Cornwell
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 33 ratingsJune 1815: The Duke of Wellington, the Prince of Orange, and Napoleon will meet on the battlefield...and decide the fate of EuropeWith the emperor Napoleon at its head, and enormous French army is marching toward Brussels. The British and their allies are also converging on Brussels - in preparation for a grand society ball...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction military war 20th-century action-adventure adult audiobook -
![Harm's Way by James Bassett]()
Harm's Way by James Bassett
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsRockwell Terry is a career naval captain who has served since WWI. Now is the dawn of another world war as his ship patrols outside Pearl Harbor. He leads a sheltered life, goes nowhere and sees no one. With the outbreak of the war, his past begins to emerge... -
![Command by Antony Melville-Ross]()
Command by Antony Melville-Ross
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFrozen fingers, broken bones, shattered hearts… the situation could not get worse. Or so Lieutenant Peter Harding thought. The Trigger has just left UK shores and is on its way to northern Norway when the relentless storm hits. Harding’s crew are barely surviving the Artic conditions which face them... -
![The Lion at Sea by Max Hennessy]()
The Lion at Sea by Max Hennessy
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsMidshipman Kelly Maguire has always had a love affair with the sea. And when war clouds gather over Europe, Maguire is put to the test along with the marine might of the Royal Navy. From the Hellish battles of Gallipoli to the barbarous action at Antwerp, Maguire begins to learn the lessons a sailor must face. Glory and danger abound in this sizzling saga of adventure, blood and guts... -
![Ship of the Line by C.S. Forester]()
Ship of the Line by C.S. Forester
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 30 ratingsHornblower leads his first ship of the line into enemy waters in this installment of C. S. Forester's beloved adventure series, called "exciting, realistic, packed with grand naval action" by the New Yorker. May 1810, seventeen years deep into the Napoleonic Wars...Categorized as:
classics historical-fiction military nautical war 20th-century action-adventure audiobook -
![The Skipper's Dog Called Stalin by David Black]()
The Skipper's Dog Called Stalin by David Black
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSpring, 1941. France has fallen but the Free French naval forces are in no mood to surrender. Royal Navy Sub-Lieutenant Harry Gilmour is also ready for action, despite the horrors of his first taste of submarine warfare.When he is appointed as British Navy Liaison Officer aboard the Free French submarine Radegonde, he finds it anarchic, disorientating—and very French... -
-
![The Steel Wave by Jeff Shaara]()
The Steel Wave by Jeff Shaara
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsJeff Shaara, America's premier author of military historical fiction, brings us the centerpiece of his epic trilogy of the Second World War.General Dwight Eisenhower once again commands a diverse army that must find its single purpose in the destruction of Hitler's European fortress... -
![Das Boot by Lothar-Günther Buchheim]()
Das Boot by Lothar-Günther Buchheim
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIt is autumn, 1941, and a German U-boat commander and his crew set out on yet another hazardous patrol in the Battle of the Atlantic. Over the coming weeks they must brave the stormy waters of the Atlantic in their mission to seek out and destroy British supply ships. But the tide is beginning to turn against the Germans in the war for the North Atlantic... -
![The Final Storm by Jeff Shaara]()
The Final Storm by Jeff Shaara
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThe Final Storm opens a new front in Jeff Shaara’s gripping chronicle of World War II as soldiers, sailors, and marines sacrifice all for one final push toward decisive victory in the fierce maelstrom of the Pacific theater. As the war in Europe winds down in the wake of the Normandy invasion, the United States has turned its vast military resources toward an all-out effort against the Japanese... -
![Bitter Tears by Marion Kummerow]()
Bitter Tears by Marion Kummerow
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsRichard Klausen is a fugitive. A Wehrmacht deserter, hiding out on a farm in Poland. He thought once the war was over, he’d be safe. Wrong. Things only get worse and staying in Poland threatens his very life. Katrina Zdanek longs for peace. But when it’s finally there, she soon finds out that loving the wrong man still is a crime. She’s Polish. He’s German. Antagonists even after the war... -
![Operation Fishwrapper by William Peter Grasso]()
Operation Fishwrapper by William Peter Grasso
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsJune 1944: A recon flight is shot down over the Japanese-held island of Biak, soon to be the next jump in MacArthur’s leapfrogging across New Guinea. Major Jock Miles, US Army—the crashed plane’s intelligence officer—must lead the handful of survivors to safety. It’s a tall order for a man barely recovered from a near-crippling leg wound...Categorized as:
historical-fiction military war ww2 20th-century action-adventure adult alternate-history -
![Ghosts of Bungo Suido by P.T. Deutermann]()
Ghosts of Bungo Suido by P.T. Deutermann
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA thrilling WWII adventure set in a submarine in the Pacific, by the Boyd Award-winning author of Pacific Glory In late 1944, America's naval forces face what seems an insurmountable threat from Japan: immense Yamato-class battleships, which dwarf every other ship at sea. Built in secrecy, these ships seem invincible, and lay waste to any challengers...
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.
