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Quick answer: If you loved A Farewell to Arms, try The Sun Also Rises, For Whom the Bell Tolls, All Quiet on the Western Front, The English Patient, Atonement and Birdsong. Each one is a powerful novel about love and war, often with spare prose and a heartbreaking ending.
Ernest Hemingway's 1929 novel follows Frederic Henry, an American ambulance driver in the Italian army during the First World War. He falls in love with the English nurse Catherine Barkley, and after the disastrous retreat at Caporetto he deserts so they can escape to Switzerland. Readers love its clean, understated style and its tragic ending. These books share its war, its romance and its honesty.
Table of Contents
Quick Picks at a Glance
| Book | Author | Setting | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Sun Also Rises | Ernest Hemingway | Paris and Spain | readers who want more Hemingway |
| For Whom the Bell Tolls | Ernest Hemingway | Spain | readers who want Hemingway's other war novel |
| All Quiet on the Western Front | Erich Maria Remarque | Western Front | readers who want the German side |
| The English Patient | Michael Ondaatje | Italy | readers who want love in wartime |
| Atonement | Ian McEwan | England and France | readers who like lovers torn apart |
| Birdsong | Sebastian Faulks | France | readers who want a WWI love story |
| Regeneration | Pat Barker | Scotland | readers who like war and psychology |
| Doctor Zhivago | Boris Pasternak | Russia | readers who want love in revolution |
| Captain Corelli's Mandolin | Louis de Bernières | Greece | readers who like Mediterranean love stories |
| Catch-22 | Joseph Heller | Italy | readers who want dark comedy |
| The Things They Carried | Tim O'Brien | Vietnam | readers who want a modern classic |
| Testament of Youth | Vera Brittain | WWI | readers who want a nurse's true story |
| Tender Is the Night | F. Scott Fitzgerald | French Riviera | readers who like the Lost Generation |
| The Great Gatsby | F. Scott Fitzgerald | New York | readers who like doomed love |
| A Very Long Engagement | Sébastien Japrisot | France | readers who want a mystery |
1. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
Expatriates drift from Paris to the bullfights in Spain.
Best for: readers who want more Hemingway.
2. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
An American fights with guerrillas in the Spanish Civil War.
Best for: readers who want Hemingway's other war novel.
3. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
A young soldier faces the trenches.
Best for: readers who want the German side.
4. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
Four damaged people share an Italian villa.
Best for: readers who want love in wartime.
5. Atonement by Ian McEwan
A girl's lie destroys two people's lives.
Best for: readers who like lovers torn apart.
6. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks
A young Englishman's love affair and life in the trenches.
Best for: readers who want a WWI love story.
7. Regeneration by Pat Barker
A doctor treats shell-shocked officers.
Best for: readers who like war and psychology.
8. Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
A doctor and poet loves a woman through the revolution.
Best for: readers who want love in revolution.
9. Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières
An Italian officer falls for a Greek doctor's daughter.
Best for: readers who like Mediterranean love stories.
10. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
A bomber pilot tries to escape the absurd rules of war.
Best for: readers who want dark comedy.
11. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
Linked stories about soldiers in Vietnam.
Best for: readers who want a modern classic.
12. Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain
A woman's memoir of nursing and loss in WWI.
Best for: readers who want a nurse's true story.
13. Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
A glamorous couple's marriage unravels.
Best for: readers who like the Lost Generation.
14. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
A millionaire pursues the woman he lost.
Best for: readers who like doomed love.
15. A Very Long Engagement by Sébastien Japrisot
A young woman searches for her fiancé after the war.
Best for: readers who want a mystery.
How We Chose These Books
Every pick is a real, widely available book that shares something specific with A Farewell to Arms: its tone, its themes, its pace or the kind of characters it puts at the center. We mixed well-known favorites with a few less obvious titles, and we noted who each book suits best so you can match it to the reader. Where a book belongs to a series, we list the first volume so you can start at the beginning.
If you are not sure where to begin, start with the first three picks in the table: they are the closest match to A Farewell to Arms. The rest of the list moves further out, so it works well once you know which part of the original you liked most. If a pick is part of a longer series, read the first book before you commit, and check the age or content notes in the table before passing a book to a younger reader.
How to Choose
For more Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises and For Whom the Bell Tolls are the obvious choices. If you want the war from other angles, All Quiet on the Western Front and Regeneration are classics. Readers who loved the doomed romance should try Birdsong or The English Patient. For a true account, Testament of Youth describes a nurse's war in moving detail.
Related: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway: Summary and Key Takeaways · All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque: Summary and Key Takeaways
Frequently Asked Questions
What is A Farewell to Arms about?
An American ambulance driver falls in love with an English nurse during the First World War.
Is A Farewell to Arms based on Hemingway's life?
Partly. Hemingway was an ambulance driver in Italy and fell for a nurse while recovering from wounds.
How does A Farewell to Arms end?
It ends in tragedy: Catherine dies after childbirth, and Frederic walks out into the rain.
What is the Caporetto retreat?
A disastrous Italian retreat in 1917 that Frederic lives through.
Is A Farewell to Arms short?
It is a medium-length novel, usually around 300 pages.