World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War | 
| Author: Max Brooks
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
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Rating:  417 reviews
Sales Rank: 916
Media: Paperback
Pages: 352
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.1 x 1.1
ISBN: 0307346617
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780307346612
ASIN: 0307346617
Publication Date: October 16, 2007
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Condition: BENDS & WEAR TO COVER & EDGES.
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Product Description
“The end was near.” —Voices from the Zombie War
The Zombie War came unthinkably close to eradicating humanity. Max Brooks, driven by the urgency of preserving the acid-etched first-hand experiences of the survivors from those apocalyptic years, traveled across the United States of America and throughout the world, from decimated cities that once teemed with upwards of thirty million souls to the most remote and inhospitable areas of the planet. He recorded the testimony of men, women, and sometimes children who came face-to-face with the living, or at least the undead, hell of that dreadful time. World War Z is the result. Never before have we had access to a document that so powerfully conveys the depth of fear and horror, and also the ineradicable spirit of resistance, that gripped human society through the plague years.
Ranging from the now infamous village of New Dachang in the United Federation of China, where the epidemiological trail began with the twelve-year-old Patient Zero, to the unnamed northern forests where untold numbers sought a terrible and temporary refuge in the cold, to the United States of Southern Africa, where the Redeker Plan provided hope for humanity at an unspeakable price, to the west-of-the-Rockies redoubt where the North American tide finally started to turn, this invaluable chronicle reflects the full scope and duration of the Zombie War.
Most of all, the book captures with haunting immediacy the human dimension of this epochal event. Facing the often raw and vivid nature of these personal accounts requires a degree of courage on the part of the reader, but the effort is invaluable because, as Mr. Brooks says in his introduction, “By excluding the human factor, aren’t we risking the kind of personal detachment from history that may, heaven forbid, lead us one day to repeat it? And in the end, isn’t the human factor the only true difference between us and the enemy we now refer to as ‘the living dead’?”
Note: Some of the numerical and factual material contained in this edition was previously published under the auspices of the United Nations Postwar Commission.
Eyewitness reports from the first truly global war
“I found ‘Patient Zero’ behind the locked door of an abandoned apartment across town. . . . His wrists and feet were bound with plastic packing twine. Although he’d rubbed off the skin around his bonds, there was no blood. There was also no blood on his other wounds. . . . He was writhing like an animal; a gag muffled his growls. At first the villagers tried to hold me back. They warned me not to touch him, that he was ‘cursed.’ I shrugged them off and reached for my mask and gloves. The boy’s skin was . . . cold and gray . . . I could find neither his heartbeat nor his pulse.” —Dr. Kwang Jingshu, Greater Chongqing, United Federation of China
“‘Shock and Awe’? Perfect name. . . . But what if the enemy can’t be shocked and awed? Not just won’t, but biologically can’t! That’s what happened that day outside New York City, that’s the failure that almost lost us the whole damn war. The fact that we couldn’t shock and awe Zack boomeranged right back in our faces and actually allowed Zack to shock and awe us! They’re not afraid! No matter what we do, no matter how many we kill, they will never, ever be afraid!” —Todd Wainio, former U.S. Army infantryman and veteran of the Battle of Yonkers
“Two hundred million zombies. Who can even visualize that type of number, let alone combat it? . . . For the first time in history, we faced an enemy that was actively waging total war. They had no limits of endurance. They would never negotiate, never surrender. They would fight until the very end because, unlike us, every single one of them, every second of every day, was devoted to consuming all life on Earth.” —General Travis D’Ambrosia, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe
From the Hardcover edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 412 more reviews...
 Excellent! Bound to be a classic! August 7, 2008
Shawn W. Salzman (Wisconsin)
This book is incredible. Each account that Max Brooks creates paints its own picture and adds to the horror that mankind would face if we ever were thrown into the middle of an undead apocalypse!! If you have ever been a fan of Zombie movies or horror in general, you owe it to yourself to read this book!
 zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz for sleep inducing August 4, 2008
bostonreader (Boston, MA USA)
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
First, this is not a novel -- it's a book made up of vignettes, so there's no real plot or character development. Second, it's highly focused on policies and strategies -- it reminded me of my husband's Army War College textbooks. If that's your idea of engrossing/interesting reading, you'll enjoy this book!
Full of ethnic stereotpes and factual incongruity August 1, 2008
Rebecca DeLaTorre (The LBC)
1 out of 7 found this review helpful
Ther are too many problems with World War Z for me to reccommend it to any but the most rabid zombie fans. There is no character development as each chapter is a story unto itself and that means there is no hero to root for. Any sense of drama stemming from anxiety about the outcome of the war is destroyed by the premise because its written after the war has been (sorta) won. Also, its meant to be a government report but the introductions at the beginning of each chapter are filled with melodramatic descriptions that belie anytype of objectivity. There are incongruities as well, which is a deal breaker in my book. For example, one moment a man puts his bloodied knuckles in a pool of zombie goo and lives to tell his tale, then in the very next chapter people are afraid to shoot zombies point blank because if the blood touches an open wound they will be infected. Last, each chapter has a different narrator and they come from communities as diverse as China, Tibet, Russia, etc., yet they all sound exactly the same with the exception of a foriegn word or phrase thrown in. Perhaps the worst issues for me are the lionizing of South Africa's apartheid masterminds and turning Isreal into a perfect, peaceful community that welcomes Palestinians and refugees back into its loving borders! That is really a stretch! All in all, a cool premise with poor execution and way too much hype.
Chilling....Perfect! July 31, 2008
N. Fall (New Hampshire)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Wow!
After reading the Zombie Survival Guide, I was compelled to pick this book up. And let me tell you...I was riveted! I've read quite a few horror books, but this one had me one edge. The interview format was unique to me, and perfect for the storyline. Max Brooks has simply sold me, I'd read anything he's written now.
On a broader sense though, when you think of how a world-wide pandemic might just play out in real life...I think he's pretty close to reality there with conveying mass hysteria, mob mentality, frantic large-scale responses, and finally the triumph of human adaptivity and spirit. Simply chilling and VERY well done. Read this book...
 GET THIS BOOK July 31, 2008
Jacob Alexander Birk (Clarksville, Tennessee USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Personally im a very picky book buyer. My thoughts are if i get the book what if it sucks. This book is easily one of my top books to suggest to others. I was hooked from the beginning to the end. Some times i would look up at the clock and realize I had been reading for an hour. Zombie lover or if you just want a good book to read when your bored this is it.
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