Tara groaned and turned over in bed yet again. It was two o'clock in the morning and try as she might, she just could not get to sleep. There was so much to worry about in the world. Climate change and Covid-19 were bad enough; now there was the Russia-Ukraine war as well. How would it all end? Would she ever be able to live a normal life?

Many others feel the same way. In a survey carried out by the Office of National Statistics during the first lockdown, 49.6% of people said that they were suffering from high levels of anxiety.

But according to psychologist Caroline Plumer, there are things we can do to stop these worries from overwhelming us. Nobody can stop a crisis single-handed, but we can all help, whether by saving energy or donating to aid organisations. And we can get a better perspective by reading deeply about subjects rather than just being bombarded by news bulletins.

Here, on World Book Day, are eight books that get to the heart of warfare: 

Fighting for Kyiv: The city is no stranger to warfare. Mikhail BulgakovBorn in Kyiv, he is best known for his novel The Master and Margarita.'s classic novel The White Guard chronicles the 1918 Ukrainian War of Independence, with four different armies doing battle for the capital.

Invasion epic: Considered to be one of the best novels ever written, Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace focuses on Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812Tolstoy wrote his novel 50 years after the events it describes. . It contrasts the soldier's and the civilian's view of war, with extraordinary insights into the nature of conflict and human relationships.

Desperate resistance: Russia's victory over the invading German forces in the Battle of Stalingrad was a turning point of World War Two. Vasily Grossman witnessed it as a journalist and vividly recreated the experience in his vast novel Life and Fate.

Volunteer's view: Like many of those now fighting, George OrwellReal name Eric Arthur Blair, a world-renowned 20th-century novelist, most famous for his political novels Animal Farm and 1984. had no experience of warfare when he volunteered to fight against Fascism in the Spanish Civil War. In his non-fiction account Homage to Catalonia, he brilliantly captures the confusion and frustration of an ordinary soldier's life.

Man of destiny: The courage of Volodymyr Zelensky reminds us of the difference one person can make in a war. Seamus Heaney's play The Cure at Troy explores the theme in his lyrical version of the story of Philoctetes, a Greek archer.

The female experience: Throughout history, many women have taken up arms. The Unwomanly Face of War by the Nobel Prize-winning Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich is a compelling oral history of Russian women who fought in World War Two.

Refugees' dilemma: The terrible uncertainty that war brings resonates through Olivia Manning's World War Two novel The Great Fortune. An English couple find themselves in Romania in 1939, surrounded by displaced people.

Lost illusions: Many Russians have been given a false idea of what the war is about. In his great novel about World War One, All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque follows an idealistic German soldier as he discovers the true horror of armed conflict.

Yes: Wars start when people forget their common humanity and start to think of fighting as a glorious enterprise. Great writers remind us of its true nature and the need to empathise with others.

No: People who wage war are naturally aggressive, and the books that appeal to them are ones that reinforce those instincts. Only diplomacy backed by military strength can bring about peace.

Or... Literature gives us invaluable insights into human psychology. Understanding your enemy's point of view is a vital part of any peace negotiation, so reading is enormously helpful.