World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War is a horror fiction novel by Max Brooks published in 2006. The book was a critical and commercial success, generally receiving positive reviews and spending several weeks on The New York Times bestseller list. It has sold millions of copies around the world and was subsequently turned into a successful movie starring Brad Pitt, released in 2013, and a highly rated video game, released in 2019. Author Max Brooks has penned several other works of fiction, including the novel Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre (2020), the short-story collection Closure, Limited: And Other Zombie Tales (2012), and the graphic novels The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks (2009) and The Harlem Hellfighters (2014), among others. Brooks is the son of comedic director Mel Brooks and actress Anne Bancroft. He is currently a senior fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point. This guide references the Penguin Random House paperback edition.

Plot Summary

After a brief introduction in which the unidentified narrator sets up the book as a marked departure from the official report on the zombie war issued by the United Nation’s Postwar Commission, World War Z is divided into eight parts. The narrator, who works in some capacity for the UN, feels their version of events—which was originally intended to be the official version—possesses the raw emotion necessary to prevent the situation from ever happening again. Each part of the book is a collection of interviews the narrator conducted with survivors around the world. The narrator often keeps questions to a minimum to allow their interview subjects to do most of the talking, thereby letting their words speak for themselves. While not all interview subjects are portrayed as heroic, the book stands as a testament to human endurance and survival in the face of an extinction-level event.

In the first three parts of the book, titled “Warnings,” “Blame,” and “The Great Panic” respectively, the narrator depicts the build-up of events leading to the Zombie War. They interview several people who portray a world entirely unprepared for the outbreak of a catastrophic virus or any type of apocalyptic scenario. It is a world divided by political partisanship, factionalism, and national borders where each individual is out for themselves. As zombies begin to slowly take over the planet, there is no clear plan of action coming from any country. Major military engagements end in failure, even in the United States where sophisticated weaponry and equipment prove no match for the zombie infestation. The virus is allowed to spread unabated, reaching into every tier of society and nearly every region of the globe.

In Parts 4-6, titled “Turning the Tide,” “Home Front USA,” and “Around the World, and Above,” the situation begins to change. Despite initially making decisions that are rash and often unsuccessful in stemming the zombie threat, military forces, global leaders, and citizens around the world begin to fight back and reclaim the planet. In an act of desperation, several countries implement a controversial agenda known as the Redeker Plan to save humanity. It involves abandoning large numbers of citizens in isolated zones to fend for their survival and relocating those deemed “fit” to safe zones. Despite the anger and infighting that arise as a result, a spirit of cooperation and unity begins to emerge as well a number of clearly defined heroes, particularly in the U.S. military. Along with the other courageous survivors around the world interviewed by the narrator, they collectively demonstrate that humanity can triumph over a seemingly omnipresent threat.

In Part 7: “Total War,” and Part 8: “Goodbyes,” the war comes to an end when victory is declared despite the fact that zombies still exist and there is more fighting to be done. Before the war is officially over, America maintains that it has to go on the offensive to permanently eradicate the zombie menace. Although there is initially some contention, several other countries quickly follow suit. A number of arduous battles ensue, resulting in the decimation of millions of zombies. While many of the survivors wax optimistic about the future, suggesting that the world will rebuild and thrive, humanity as a whole—as well as the state of global affairs—remains in a delicate balance. The book’s ending suggests the future holds great promise, as well as great hardship.