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World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
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Author(s): Max Brooks
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Paperback: 352 pages
Language(s): English
ISBN: 0307346617
Published On: 2007-10-16
Studio: Three Rivers Press
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, arent we risking the kind of personal detachment from history that may, heaven forbid, lead us one day to repeat it? And in the end, isnt 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 hed 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 boys 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 cant be shocked and awed? Not just wont, but biologically cant! Thats what happened that day outside New York City, thats the failure that almost lost us the whole damn war. The fact that we couldnt shock and awe Zack boomeranged right back in our faces and actually allowed Zack to shock and awe us! Theyre 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 DAmbrosia, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe


From the Hardcover edition.
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Customer Reviews
"Decent Read, Perhaps Appropriate for "Zombie Fans""
Written By: Steven M. Anthony
This book was a decently entertaining read, but it just didn't bowl me over. It is certainly possible that a fan of "zombie literature" (who knew such a thing existed?) might enjoy this work more than I did.

To encapsulate, this book documents a human/zombie conflict through a collection of oral histories. Some of these are very well thought out and presented. Others are boring, while still others are simply silly. A variety of very interesting scenarios are played out, many of which seem very realistic if you can get past the "zombie" aspect.

I read one viewer declare this a masterpiece in the "zombie genre". Zombie genre? If there is such a thing, this may very well be a masterpiece. In the overall genre of fiction or even horror, this falls somewhere in the middle of the road.
"Shallow characters and zero drama make a boring read"
Written By: E. Williams
This book sounded entertaining from the description but it proved to be tedious, predictable and bland.
"Disappointed"
Written By: Josiah
***No spoilers***
Being an avid reader and huge post-apocalyptic zombie fan I thought I would really enjoy this book. I think this book suffers in two ways. One is that it tries to be to realistic and instead comes off sounding fake. I never felt scared or hopeless for a character and some of the stories were just silly. Second is that the book was less about a zombie war and more about Max Brooks attempt to prove his socio-economic prowess by attempting to describe what would happen in rural china during a zombie outbreak. Very disappointed, if you are looking for something ala Richard Mattheson I am Legend you will not be happy.
"Imaginative, but flawed in its execution..."
Written By: Geoff
I was very hopeful when I cracked this book open, but was ultimately disappointed by the lack of stylistic variation, which is crucial since the author is recounting stories from many different survivors of the Zombie War. Not only that, but there are several plot holes that are distractingly blatant. These, in addition to several typos (how does a book go through as many printings as WWZ and not have them corrected?) broke the "suspension of disbelief" that would be necessary to really become immersed in a book like this.

With these drawbacks, I still give World War Z three stars for being an imaginative new take on the zombie genre. But if you're really interested in a gripping, horrifying and engrossing zombie survival tale, pick up Robert Kirkman's "The Walking Dead" from Image Comics.
"Cool!!"
Written By: E. Wind
This book was very creative and imaginative. It keeps you interested from cover to cover.
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