The Naked and the Dead

During World War II, American forces fight to drive the Japanese off Anopopei, an invented South Pacific island, so they can advance on the Philippines, and Norman Mailer's debut novel follows one recon platoon through the campaign. Staff Sergeant Sam Croft leads men such as Red Valsen, Roy Gallagher and Woodrow Wilson, while Lieutenant Robert Hearn and Major General Edward Cummings argue over philosophy and command. Mailer drew on his own time cooking for the 112th Cavalry Regiment in the Philippines, writing in a journalistic style about soldiers holding on to their dignity. Published when he was 25, it became a bestseller, was filmed in 1958 and ranked 51st on the Modern Library list of the century's best English-language novels.

Barack Obama included it on the list of books he told the New York Times he had recommended to his daughter Malia.