Publication Date: July 29, 2025
Print Length: 304 pages
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
- New York Times Top 10 Book of 2025
- Chicago Review of Books – 12 Must-Read Books of 2025
- People Magazine Best Books of 2025
- Financial Times Best Book of 2025
Previous Publications:
- The Monster Variations (2009)
- Rotters (2011)
- Scowler (2013)
- Trollhunters (2015)
- Death and Live of Zebulon Finch (2015-16)
- Whalefall (2023)
SYNOPSIS
While writing his entire novel in one sentence, Daniel Krause captures the brutal carnage that soldiers experienced during the trench warfare of World War 1. After five soldiers are ordered to find the source of a shrieking that has overwhelmed the battlefield, they encounter a fallen angel who had been struck down by artillery fire. Each of the five soldiers then compete to rescue the angel in keeping with their own desires. As Krause describes the soldiers’ harrowing struggle to survive, he uses the fallen angel to question whether humankind can ever rid itself of the need for war.
REVIEWS AND AUTHOR INFORMATION
Winters, Ben H., “WWI Novel Just Won the Pulitzer,” The New York Times, May 20, 2026. Book Review: ‘Angel Down,’ by Daniel Kraus – The New York Times.
Beard, Rowan, “Inside the War Machine: Daniel Kraus’s Angel Down.” Chicago Review of Books, July 29, 2025, Inside the War Machine: Daniel Kraus’s Angel Down – Chicago Review of Books.
Kirkus, “Angle Down, an Impressive and Surprising Take on War-Story Tropes,” Kirkus, July 29, 2025. ANGEL DOWN | Kirkus Reviews
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
How well did Kraus pull off writing his novel in only one sentence? Did the paragraph format help to propel the narrative forward?
Through his graphic descriptions, was Kraus able to convey the unique horror associated with the way the warfare was conducted during World War I?
In the end of the novel, is Cyril Bagger able to redeem himself, despite his failure to keep his promise to not kill another man?
Did the novel end on a hopeful note regarding the possibility that the cycle of war cam ever stop?
