World War Z by Max Brooks (2006, Hardcover)

Max Brooks returns with another superb zombie genre book. World War Z The Oral History of the Zombie War was quite amazing. The entire story is told from other peoples points of view and chronicles the zombie war from beginning to end. I was completely engulfed in World War Z from the first page to the last.

I loved how he had the story from different people. He could use different personalities for each one and give a real feel for what happened during the zombie war. I also liked how Brooks was able to chronicle the early portions of the war to the end when the humans fought back and eventually retook the planet (the interviews from the book are taking place after the war with the zombies has virtually ended). I enjoyed the parts when the techniques in defeating the zombies were described from the Redeker Plan to the U.S. Army's strategies in fighting the zombies. Another interesting part is how Brooks brings in how the war has affected countries like Cuba, China, and several third world countries and how they are now powers in the world almost over some countries like the U.S. and Britain. It was amazing how Brooks created all sorts of characters for this book from the army soldiers, to political people, to even a guy who made a placebo cure for the zombie plague and made millions of dollars doing it.

There was comedy, there were sad moments, there was exciting moments, and all of which included the core topic of World War Z...zombies. I loved World War Z. Zombie genre fans will definitely enjoy World War Z and I can absolutely say fans of Max Brooks first book The Zombie Survival Guide will love World War Z

Max Brooks' homage to Studs Turkel's "The Good War" is a fast, addictive read. Brooks' zombies serve as the perfect metaphor for any world-encompassing epidemic, and he exhibits eerily accurate insights on the reactions of world governments and populations to a disaster of epic scale. The book has inspired a wealth of zombie apocalypse fiction, some of which is available online at talesofworldwarz

Let me state first off that I am a Zombie buff. I love the movies and have just recently been drawn to the novels, so my opinion is definitely biased. I purchased this book after reading "the Zombie Survival Guide" also written by Max Brooks. Max's first Zombie book is excellent and a must read, very entertaining. "World War Z", although a good book, left me wanting more. The book is done in a series of short stories, which are being told by actual survivors, who are being interviewed by, you guessed it Max Brooks. The story line and characters were not developed well enough from just sheer volume of the different stories. Do not get me wrong I enjoyed the book, but I fear for those people who are not Zombie buffs they will be dissapointed, especially for $24.95 retail. Of course then again Max was obviously writing the book for his loyal fans anyway. I remain loyal to Max but rate the book a GOOD read and not a MUST read, even for Zombie fans.

"World War Z; An Oral History of the Zombie War" is a fantastic book. It isn't laid out like a traditional novel. My wife and I read it aloud in a series of four nights. I was a little dissapointed in the conclusion. I expected a grand finale, and it wasn't there.

Overall, I give this book 4 out of 5. Word on the street is, a movie is in the works!

Max Brooks most definitely is a zombie lover and it shows through his "oral retelling" of the Zombie War. Taking current zombie trend zombies come from some sort of disease passed by bites. While I miss the old Night of the LIving Dead where the most frightening part of a zombie was them eating people - the fear from zombies now comes from becoming infected.

The books works because Brooks manages to tell the reader exactly how the war began, and how it was fought. Some parts are a little out there - some people started to act like zombies without being bitten (i'm not sure why the real zombies didn't pick up on that and eat them)

In conclusion - the book does move along very nicely, and each person's story is different and well-told. I will eagerly await Brooks next piece.

What if George Romero's popular cult film "Night of the Living Dead" was based on fact? What if there really were zombies knocking at your door? Would you know what to do? Would the government know how to protect you from these creatures? This is the basis of a new book by Max Brooks.

This is the first book written by Brooks that I've read. And it is quite the story. Even though it's fiction, it's written as if the author was actually interviewing and reporting on the world wide disaster called the Zombie War. AND nobody was prepared for this type of disaster. According to the dust jacket "Mr Brooks subsequently spent years traveling to every part of the globe in order to conduct the face-to-face interviews..." This is a horror story with a strong underlying vein of humor with generous dashes of sarcasm thrown in for flavor. Just my type of read!

Since horror stories are one of the most favorite types of books for me to read, I couldn't resist when I saw this novel on the shelf at a local bookstore. I bought it, read it and liked it so much that I'm going to go back to that store and buy a copy of Max Brook's previous book, The Zombie Survival Guide. After all, I used to be a Girl Scout and I want to be prepared. I mean, what if this is really a true story ?!?

loved the whole thing. max brooks has a way of writing about doumb things in a very serious manor. the book is well written, and as soon as you read it you become immersed in the fictional world the encompasses world war z. id recommend this book to any body who loves zombies, read the zombie survival guide or just looking for a good read.

A great read. Fun and interesting throughout.
Wish he had written more that the two that he did.
After reading a while, the scenario seems real to me.

Zombies are among us. In a series of journalistic-style interviews and monologues, Max Brooks tracks the institutional and geopolitical missteps that led to the collapse of civilization and follows the intrepid survivors as they tell the story of fighting their way back against a zombie horde of 200 million. Alan Alda, Carl Reiner, Mark Hamill, and a host of others lend their considerable vocal talents to give these interviews a solid realism. China secretly developed a deadly virus. Israel closed its borders. Cuba plotted. And in the United States the Battle of Yonkers was a devastating rout for the U.S. Army. It's all very much in the grand tradition of War of the Worlds.

Editorial Reviews:

From Publishers Weekly. Brooks, the author of the determinedly straight-faced parody The Zombie Survival Guide (2003), returns in all seriousness to the zombie theme for his second outing, a future history in the style of Theodore Judson's Fitzpatrick's War. Brooks tells the story of the world's desperate battle against the zombie threat with a series of first-person accounts "as told to the author" by various characters around the world. A Chinese doctor encounters one of the earliest zombie cases at a time when the Chinese government is ruthlessly suppressing any information about the outbreak that will soon spread across the globe. The tale then follows the outbreak via testimony of smugglers, intelligence officials, military personnel and many others who struggle to defeat the zombie menace. Despite its implausible premise and choppy delivery, the novel is surprisingly hard to put down. The subtle, and not so subtle, jabs at various contemporary politicians and policies are an added bonus. (Sept.)

Product Details:

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Three Rivers Press (October 16, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0307346617
ISBN-13: 978-0307346612
Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 1.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces

More Information & Photos Of The Item Are Available At The Website:

Archives Of The Dead
A Large Online Zombie Memorabilia Database

I bought this book because I read that it was going to become a movie and I love Zombie movies. The thing I liked most about it is all the different points of view the author presents to tie the story together and really make it feel like a sense of the whole world at war with an enemy that no one expected or had prepared for.

It all started with The Zombie Survival Guide, which is written by the same author. I immediately sought the book World War Z, and boy am I glad i purchased it. The book is composed of made up people and the situations that they went through before, into, and after the war. The stories are in chronological order, and describe in detail how close the human race came to extinction, then fought their way back. The book is well written, definately has some good 'stories', and some mediocre 'stories'. The only complaint, and this is from my point of view, was that after each story, Mr. Brooks tied the next story into the one before it. It made it seem unrealistic, which is not why i bought the book. It's hard for me to get into the world of zombie's when each story just happens to mention something from the story before. Nevertheless, it is a small detail that is easily overlooked, and the book is overall incredible. I strongly advise you purchase this book if you happen to be a horror fanatic, or even if you have just the slightest interest in it.

I can't give a real review of the product because it was purchased as a Christmas present for my brother. He, however, loves the book and had it on his list of highly desired gifts for Christmas. Hopefully, he will let me borrow it in the future, so I can see for myself what all the excitement was about.

Great book. Its well thought out. In the short passages, you meet characters and learn a lot about them and their own part of the story. Its never boring.

In my perspective, World War Z should be the New York Times # 1 book. I thought this book would be a typical fiction book in chronological format. I was wrong, Max Brooks presentation of the story was ingenious. The story stocks out very strong and has a fairly strong ending. I never thought about skimming through the book, or stopping the book. The book was able to capture my attention and hold it. The ending wasn't as strong as the begining, and could have been a little bit better. A lot of books I've read have started strong and fizzled out. I was really impressed by this book. I read World War Z before I read Max Brook's first book. After reading World War Z, I immediately purchased the Handbook to a Zombie invasion.

This is a really great book. My roommate had his survival guide and was very entertaining. This is along the more serious note but very well written in a interview style. Pretty much what would happen if zombies were to rise up.

well i picked up the second release to The Zombie Survival Guide, and it fasinated me. i have always been a walking dead fanatic, and i saw the book and i couldn't say no.
i read through the book that night
it was so amazing. the second release had the first part of WWZ and i was hooked. the first thing i did the next morning was call the Local Barnes and Noble and reserve my copy. I picked it up a few weeks later and all i can say is "WOW." the writing style of Max Brooks is flat out amazing. this is an easy top 5 of all time for my favorite books.
i am currently reading through it again, and eagerly awaiting the 2008 Adaptation of WWZ to Film
5 out of 5

Max Brooks first book ,Zombie Survival Guide was a must have for all zombie fans,however ,as I make my way threw World War Z ,I keep waiting for the good part and have yet to find it.It seems that everytime it starts to get good ,it stops.There is a HUGE amount of political effort put into this and alot of time put in from the far corners of the earth for no apparent reason that I can as of yet make out,we jump from small town US were the dead are at the back door and the family is headed for there car and Dads fighting off the dead and then we switch to some small town in India were the taxes have risen and the food is running short and I dont know why I want to know about that,and we never go back to the family?I may be missing the big picture,this would probably make a great movie ,with alot of editing.