Mila 18
A novel of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, named for the bunker headquarters of the Jewish resistance.
The Verdict
Leon Uris gives the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising the full sweep of the epic novel — and for many readers it was the first they ever heard of it. Named for the bunker that housed the Jewish fighting organisation's command, the book follows a cast of ghetto inhabitants from the German occupation to the desperate, doomed revolt of 1943, when a few hundred starving fighters with almost no weapons held off the SS for weeks. It is unabashedly heroic and built for momentum; subtle it is not, but it honours a story that deserves to be known.
Who Should Read It
Read it if you want
- The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising as epic fiction
- Jewish armed resistance, centred
- A propulsive, accessible historical novel
- A first encounter with the revolt
Look elsewhere if you want
- Literary subtlety over momentum
- A factual history of the uprising
- Understatement
Why We Rated It 4.3
Historical Context
Mila 18 (1961) is a novel of the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, its title taken from the address of the bunker that served as headquarters for the Jewish resistance. It draws on the real events of the revolt, in which lightly armed fighters resisted the German liquidation of the ghetto.
Events Covered
Editions & Reading Notes
Read It Alongside
Where to Buy
ISBN: 978-0553241600
Read This Against
The same events seen from a different vantage point. The fullest understanding often lives in the space between accounts that don't agree.
Other Books About the Same Events
Frequently Asked Questions
- What was Mila 18?
- The address of the underground bunker that housed the command of the Jewish Combat Organisation during the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
- Is the novel based on real events?
- Yes — it dramatises the real uprising, though its characters are fictional composites.