War & Conflict

Narratives shaped by conflict, survival, and the human cost of war.

All countries Afghanistan Algeria Armenia Bangladesh Benin Bosnia and Herzegovina Cambodia Canada China Congo, Democratic Republic Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) Croatia Cyprus Ethiopia France Germany Greece Indonesia Iraq Japan Kenya Lebanon Malaysia Mexico Myanmar Netherlands Nigeria North Korea Pakistan Palestine Russia Rwanda Senegal South Korea Sri Lanka Syria Tanzania Türkiye Ukraine United Kingdom United States Vietnam Yemen

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Fractured Soul

Akira Mizubayashi

Tokyo, 1938. During a private musical gathering, military police burst in and arrest Yu, a Japanese musician whose love of Western classical music has drawn suspicion. His young son, Rei, witnesses the destruction of his father’s violin and the sudden collapse of their family. With the help of a compassionate stranger, Rei escapes to France, carrying the fragments of the broken instrument. Decades later, now living in Paris as a violin maker, he dedicates himself to restoring damaged instruments—but the wounds of his childhood remain unresolved. When a young violinist unexpectedly reconnects him with his past, the broken violin becomes a symbol of memory, loss, and the possibility of healing. Moving between Japan and France, Fractured Soul explores the enduring power of music to transcend political violence and bring people together across generations. It is a poignant story about what war destroys, what art preserves, and how beauty can emerge from the deepest suffering.

The Beekeeper of Aleppo

The Beekeeper of Aleppo

Christy Lefteri

The Beekeeper of Aleppo follows Nuri, a beekeeper, and his wife, Afra, an artist, as their peaceful life in Syria is destroyed by war. After suffering devastating personal losses, the couple are forced to leave their home and embark on a dangerous journey towards Britain in search of safety. Afra has lost her sight following a traumatic experience, while Nuri struggles with his own grief and the responsibility of protecting them both. As they travel through unfamiliar countries and refugee camps, their physical journey becomes intertwined with the emotional struggle to recover from trauma. Through their experiences, Lefteri explores displacement, loss, resilience, and the psychological consequences of conflict. The novel offers an intimate portrait of refugees whose lives have been transformed by circumstances beyond their control.

The Mountains Sing

The Mountains Sing

Que Mai Phan Nguyen

Spanning several decades of Vietnamese history, The Mountains Sing follows the Trần family through famine, political upheaval, land reform, and the Vietnam War. The story centres on grandmother Trần Diệu Lan, who is forced to flee her family farm with her six children during the land reforms of the 1950s. Years later, her young granddaughter Hương grows up in Hanoi as the war tears her family apart and sends her parents and uncles into battle. Through alternating perspectives, the novel reveals the extraordinary hardships endured by successive generations. While Hương tries to understand the world around her, Diệu Lan shares memories of loss, survival, and the choices she made to protect her children. Their relationship becomes a source of strength in a country where families have been divided by political loyalties, violence, and competing visions of the future. Drawing on Vietnamese history, folklore, poetry, and cultural traditions, Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai presents a deeply personal perspective on a conflict often portrayed internationally through foreign experiences. The novel explores the lasting consequences of war while celebrating the resilience of ordinary people, the bonds between generations, and the possibility of healing through remembrance and compassion.

At Night All Blood is Black

At Night All Blood is Black

During the First World War, Alfa Ndiaye, a young Senegalese soldier fighting for the French army, watches his childhood friend and fellow soldier, Mademba, suffer a horrific battlefield injury. Mademba repeatedly begs Alfa to end his suffering, but Alfa cannot bring himself to deliver the fatal blow. Haunted by guilt and the memory of his friend’s agony, Alfa begins a terrifying transformation. Night after night, he ventures into enemy territory, killing German soldiers in increasingly brutal ways and returning to camp with their severed hands. His fellow soldiers grow frightened of him, whispering that he has become something beyond human. As Alfa’s violence intensifies, the boundaries between courage and madness, revenge and remorse, begin to dissolve. Through his increasingly fragmented narration, Diop exposes the psychological devastation of war and the dehumanising legacy of colonialism. Drawing on Senegal’s history of supplying soldiers to the French army, this haunting novel challenges conventional narratives of heroism and examines the terrible cost of turning human beings into instruments of violence. It won the 2021 International Booker Prize, shared by Diop and translator Anna Moschovakis.

Grey Bees

In a deserted village in eastern Ukraine, deep inside the so-called Grey Zone between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists, only two residents remain: Sergey Sergeyich, a retired mine safety inspector and devoted beekeeper, and Pashka, his former schoolmate and longtime rival. With no electricity and the constant threat of shelling, Sergeyich finds comfort in tending to his bees, whose orderly world offers a fragile contrast to the violence surrounding him. As spring approaches, he decides to transport his beehives to safer pastures, embarking on a journey across a war-torn landscape. Along the way, he encounters soldiers and civilians on opposing sides of the conflict, including Russian occupiers and Crimean Tatars. His encounters reveal the human consequences of political division while challenging the boundaries between enemies and neighbours. Combining dark humour, quiet compassion, and political insight, Grey Bees is a moving portrait of ordinary life amid extraordinary violence. Through Sergeyich’s devotion to his bees, Kurkov explores the persistence of humanity, the absurdity of war, and the possibility of finding common ground in a fractured world.

Above Us the Milky Way

Above Us the Milky Way

Above Us the Milky Way is a story about war, immigration, and the remarkable human capacity to create beauty out of horror. As a young family attempts to reconstruct their lives in a new and peaceful country, they are daily drawn back to the first land through remembrance and longing, by news of the continued suffering and loss of loved ones, and by the war dead, who have immigrated and reside with them, haunting their days and illuminating the small joys and wonders offered them by the new land. The novel's structure is built around the alphabet, twenty-six pieces written in the first person that sketch a through-line of memory for the lives of the five daughters, mother, and father. Ghost stories and fairytales are woven with old family photographs and medieval-style watercolor illuminations to create an origin story of loss and remembrance.

Afghanistan 2020

The Dog of Tithwal

The Dog of Tithwal

Saadat Hasan Manto

On the mountainous border between India and Pakistan, two groups of soldiers face each other in a tense military standoff. Their routine is interrupted by the arrival of a stray dog, an innocent creature that wanders between the opposing camps. The soldiers begin to claim the dog as their own, giving it names and interpreting its movements as signs of loyalty or betrayal. What begins as a seemingly harmless game gradually turns sinister, exposing the absurdity of nationalism and the cruelty of a conflict in which even an animal cannot remain neutral. With biting irony and devastating simplicity, Saadat Hasan Manto transforms this brief encounter into a powerful allegory of Partition and the violence produced by artificial divisions. The story asks what happens to humanity when political identity becomes more important than compassion—and when the innocent are made to pay for the hostility of others.

The Orphanage

Set in eastern Ukraine during the war in Donbas, The Orphanage follows Pasha, a thirty-five-year-old Ukrainian language teacher who has spent his life avoiding politics and keeping his distance from the conflicts around him. When fighting reaches a neighbouring city, he must cross the front line to retrieve his thirteen-year-old nephew, Sasha, from a boarding school that has become increasingly dangerous. What should be a straightforward journey turns into a harrowing passage through a landscape devastated by shelling, military checkpoints, and collapsing infrastructure. As Pasha encounters soldiers, displaced civilians, and people struggling to survive, his familiar world becomes unrecognisable. With each step, he is forced to reconsider his loyalties, his responsibilities, and what it means to belong to a country at war. Written with stark lyricism and an unflinching eye for everyday suffering, Zhadan’s novel portrays the human cost of armed conflict. Beyond the physical dangers, it explores indifference, moral responsibility, and the difficult realisation that remaining neutral may no longer be possible. The Orphanage won the 2022 EBRD Literature Prize.

Trespasses

In 1970s Northern Ireland, as the Troubles bring violence and fear to everyday life, Cushla Lavery tries to build a future beyond the narrow confines of her small Catholic community. She teaches young children at a parochial school and helps run her family’s pub, all while caring for her troubled mother. One evening, she meets Michael Agnew, an older, married Protestant barrister known for defending IRA members. Despite the religious divisions and social dangers surrounding them, Cushla begins a passionate affair with him. But their private relationship unfolds against a landscape where loyalties are fiercely policed and even the smallest actions can have devastating consequences. When a young pupil’s father is brutally attacked, Cushla becomes caught in a chain of events that threatens the people she loves. Tender and unflinching, Trespasses explores forbidden love, sectarian hatred, and the impossible choices faced by ordinary people living through extraordinary violence.

United Kingdom 2022

Diary of an Invasion

Diary of an Invasion

When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Ukrainian novelist and journalist Andrey Kurkov began documenting the unfolding catastrophe from the perspective of someone living through it. Diary of an Invasion combines personal diary entries, reportage, and historical reflection to chronicle the months leading up to the invasion and its devastating aftermath. As Kurkov and his family seek safety in western Ukraine, he records the experiences of displaced civilians, the destruction of communities, and the extraordinary determination of people struggling to preserve their everyday lives. Beyond documenting military events, Kurkov examines the complex historical relationship between Russia and Ukraine, the significance of language and cultural identity, and the resilience of Ukrainian society in the face of aggression. His observations are interwoven with moments of dark humour, compassion, and quiet defiance. Both an eyewitness account and a reflection on national identity, the book offers an intimate portrait of a country fighting not only for its territory but also for its cultural survival.

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida

Shehan Karunatilaka

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida follows Maali, a war photographer and gambler who awakens after his death in a mysterious afterlife. Set against the backdrop of Sri Lanka’s violent civil conflict in the 1980s, the novel gives Maali seven moons—or seven days—to discover who killed him and to help the people he loves find a collection of photographs that could expose atrocities committed during the war. As he navigates a bureaucratic and chaotic realm of the dead, he encounters other spirits and gradually confronts the dangers he faced while alive. Karunatilaka combines supernatural fiction, dark humour, and political satire to examine violence, corruption, and the struggle to preserve truth in a society marked by fear. The novel explores the responsibilities of witnessing, the power of evidence, and the difficulty of achieving justice when the dead have been denied a voice.

As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow

As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow

Set during the Syrian revolution and the ensuing civil war, As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow follows Salama, a young pharmacy student who becomes a medical volunteer in a hospital in Homs. Once hopeful about her future, she now witnesses the devastating effects of violence while struggling with the trauma of losing loved ones and the responsibility of protecting those who remain. Haunted by an imagined companion named Khawf, whose presence reflects her fear and inner conflict, Salama faces an agonising choice: stay in Syria to help her community or flee the country in search of safety. Her growing relationship with Kenan, a young man who dreams of a future beyond the war, offers a fragile source of hope. Katouh explores courage, grief, love, and the moral dilemmas faced by ordinary people caught in extraordinary circumstances.

About this theme

Books: 71
Countries: 43

Countries with this theme

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Congo, Democratic Republic

Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)