Mila 18 by Leon Uris
This book was one of the most amazing books I have ever read. I am quite interested in history and was going through my fascination with World War II and Hitler when I discovered Mila 18.

The main characters of this story are a doctor and his wife who work at the local university in Warsaw. Other characters in the book include a family named Schnieder and an old retired German officer from WWI. All of these characters are Jewish. The setting of the story is Warsaw, Poland just before the outbreak of WWII. The overall plot is the same as many holocaust books. The story starts before the war with everything normal. When the Nazis came, they captured all the Jews that were either not hidden or had not already fled from Poland. The Jews were sent to ghettos and then to concentration camps where they were murdered by the millions. In this story, a group of active Zionists decided to fight back using guerilla tactics.

It was a time of crisis, a time of tragedy--and a time of transcendent courage and determination. Mila 18 is set in the midst of the ghetto uprising that defied Nazi tyranny, as the Jews of Warsaw boldly met Wehrmacht tanks with homemade weapons and bare fists.

Wild Swans by Jung Chang
This book was given me to my grandmother it was one of the first biographies I ever read, and I have been constantly disappointed ever since, no-one can match Jung Chang's ability to tell a story.

It's a beautifully written story of a grandmother, mother and daughter. Each woman's life is very different and seems to typify a different era of Chinese history. While the historical and geographical setting is very different to our own, it is easy to identify with the women's feelings and desires. You cannot help but feel these women's pain but at the same time admire their strength and wonder if you would be so brave in the same tragic circumstances. The upside-down world of Mao ruled Communist China is masterfully recreated and it makes you wonder how such a thing could have happened a relatively short time ago.

When I read this book everything else in my life stopped. I could not help but be drawn into the world created by the author. Even years after reading it I still recall the way it touched me