The Young Lions is one of the great World War II novels, capturing the experiences of three very different soldiers. This New York Times–bestselling masterpiece stands alongside Norman Mailer’s The Naked and the Dead and James Jones’s From Here to Eternity as a powerful American novel tackling the Second World War.

Ambitious in its scope and robust in its prose, Irwin Shaw’s work is deeply humanistic, presenting the reality of war through the eyes of ordinary soldiers on both sides. The story follows the individual dramas—and ultimately intertwined destinies—of Christian Diestl, a Nazi sergeant; Noah Ackerman, a Jewish American infantryman; and Michael Whitacre, an idealistic urbanite from the New York theatrical world.

Diestl first appears as a dashing ski instructor in Austria, proclaiming his loyalty to Nazi ideals. As the war progresses, Diestl’s character erodes as he descends into savagery. Ackerman endures domestic anti-Semitism and beatings in boot camp before proving himself in the European theater. Eventually, as part of the liberating army, he confronts the unimaginable horrors of the death camps.

Whitacre, trading cocktail parties for Molotov cocktails, confronts the barbarism of war. In fighting simply to survive, he discovers his own capacity for heroism.

Shaw’s sweeping narrative is vivid, exciting, and brutally realistic, while poignant in its portrayal of the moral devastation and institutional insanity of war. Penned by a master storyteller, The Young Lions stands the test of time as a classic novel of war and the human experience.