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| World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War | 
 enlarge | Author: Max Brooks
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (442 reviews)
Sales Rank: 787
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
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
Release Date: October 16, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
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 437 more reviews...
 Easily one of the best zombie stories in the last two decades October 12, 2008
The book is written as a historical documentary of the war against the zombies, AKA World War Z. It is made up of perhaps 125-150 stories, each focusing on a particular individual. Thruout the individual tales, the larger narrative becomes clear, but because of the manner in which it is told it conveys a sense of realness I've never experienced in any zombie book or movie.
There are numerous individual stories which would make for quite a good movie, but by focusing on some many people of different ages, backgrounds, careers and opinions, it avoids the typical cliches that all zombie movies are forced by design to include. I think this would make an excellent movie but only if it is filmed as a documentary. As I read the book, I was reminded in particular of of the documentaries we've seen in the past few years about 9/11. Some of them have focused on the plane which crashed in PA and the fight of the passengers with the hijackers, but most focus on the day as a whole. The better ones do more then then rehash what happened, with recreations of the terrorists in hotels in Paterson, NJ, they let people tell what they saw, how they felt, and they reacted. It's more about what happened to all of us, then what happened onboard those planes or inside the twin towers.
This is why this book is so successful. Rather then focus on the specific details, we learn how it affected people personally. I would gladly pay $10 to see this movie.
I love the format! October 10, 2008
The oral history format enhances the suspense, drama and story. A great zombie novel.
Surprisingly moving October 7, 2008
For a book with they "silly" premise of a zombie uprising threatening all of humanity, the stories contained within are poignant, touching, and most important believable.
The book was so engrossing, I purchased it and had it completely read in a single weekend.
It's hard to describe the emotions this book stirred up. Anger, remorse, pride, all of these things. And joy at discovering someone making a daring escape. Sorrow when learning that the person being interviewed has lost a bit of his or her mind because of what they've been through.
I didn't know what to expect when I purchased this book. Not really. I have had the Zombie Survival Guide for a while. When I bought it, it was in the "humor" section. "World War Z" took the tongue-in-cheek approach from that book and turned it on its head, taking itself completely seriously and *pulling it off!*
Only a few bits of data truly date the story (such as Fidel Castro being around at the end of the war).
The audio-book will be my next purchase. I've heard the few clips from the website and I feel that will give the story even more impact.
The ultimate zombie war review October 6, 2008
This book makes you see how the war against the living dead was seen on several fronts. Highly recommended, a must have.
Zed Heads rejoice! October 5, 2008
WWZ is the first piece of zombie anything that actually scared me! It's not just the horrifying way the Zeds are described, but the collapse of society that sends a realistically chilling shudder through you. A must have for any fan of horror!
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