All Quiet on the Western Front: The Illustrated Edition

I first read this book when I was 15 years old and had the opportunity again to read it recently (the illustrated edition). Although fictional, it is a classic account of the devastation and tragedy of World War I. It changed my whole outlook about war, and it succeeds again after all these years.
Arguably the best anti-war novel of all time, it is told from the perspective of a young German soldier (Paul Baumer) who tells of his adventures with his classmates, their enlistment and experiences in the war. He describes how only in such terrible hardship and mind boggling terror can one attain real genuine comradeship. The book no doubt was excerpted from some of the war experiences of Remarque, who was drafted in 1916, wounded in 1917 and then saw no further action. Obviously appalled by the enormous loss of life and devastation, "Im Westen nichts Neues" was published in Germany in 1929--and became an instant best seller. Devoid of all romanticism, he describes in graphic and burning prose the tragedy of war where the individual could not surmount but be battered and eventually destroyed by blind and illogical hatred not of his own making. No wonder that Remarque became a 'persona non grata' in the Third Reich, for the Nazis, true sons of the war were angered by Remarque's pacifism and anti-militarism, eventually stripping him of German citizenship.
A book destined to be a classic, for sheer fascination it rivals the most thrilling modern novel, for it is readable, interesting, and easy to understand. And these are the very qualities which characterize classical books: simplicity, interest and readability.

I first read this book when I was 15 years old and had the opportunity again to read it recently (the illustrated edition). Although fictional, it is a classic account of the devastation and tragedy of World War I. It changed my whole outlook about war, and it succeeds again after all these years.
Arguably the best anti-war novel of all time, it is told from the perspective of a young German soldier (Paul Baumer) who tells of his adventures with his classmates, their enlistment and experiences in the war. He describes how only in such terrible hardship and mind boggling terror can one attain real genuine comradeship. The book no doubt was excerpted from some of the war experiences of Remarque, who was drafted in 1916, wounded in 1917 and then saw no further action. Obviously appalled by the enormous loss of life and devastation, "Im Westen nichts Neues" was published in Germany in 1929--and became an instant best seller. Devoid of all romanticism, he describes in graphic and burning prose the tragedy of war where the individual could not surmount but be battered and eventually destroyed by blind and illogical hatred not of his own making. No wonder that Remarque became a 'persona non grata' in the Third Reich, for the Nazis, true sons of the war were angered by Remarque's pacifism and anti-militarism, eventually stripping him of German citizenship.
A book destined to be a classic, for sheer fascination it rivals the most thrilling modern novel, for it is readable, interesting, and easy to understand. And these are the very qualities which characterize classical books: simplicity, interest and readability.

The first time I read this book it was for a school assignment. Now I must have read it about a hundred times. It is an anti-war novel. Always in school, at least in American, we are always taught that the Germans are the "bad guys" and they are the ones to blame. However, this book is from a German soldier's point of view. The more I read the more I began to sympathize and the more I realized that they were in the exact same boat as our doughboys. It touches on points based on politics and humanities. This book does have a lot of action in it and it is not for the squirmish. The illustrated edition is particularly interesting because of the photographs of the soldiers. (It really got me in the mood.) Thank you for reading my review. :-)

This book puts a face on the enemy soldier. He is no longer just a rifle, a bayonet, a grenade, but a living breathing human being. The book is told from the perspective of a World War I German Soldier, and while you are reading it you can not help thinking how much he sounds just like any other 20 year old boy regardless of whether he is a German, American, French, Russian, or British soldier. As an American male, Germany was our enemy and was always looked upon as being evil. You are not supposed to think of these people as human beings. It would make fighting them that much harder to learn that their foot soldiers really were not much different than ours. The fact that they had mothers, fathers, and loved ones at home praying for their safety, just as ours did, is moving.
The book does not bother going into details of the cause of the war, which is good, but just focuses on the foot soldier who is actually fighting it. The book is fictitious, but it gives surprisingly accurate descriptions of the war, and gives you a good perspective of what they went through. This illustrated edition is great and helped clarify in my mind actually what was described in the book.
You can also see hints of the feeling of the country preceding World War II. At the end of World War I, Germany was defeated, but their foot soldiers felt that they were not out classed, but only out manned. Also most of the fighting was done in other countries, so Germans were not subjected to images of giant craters which had ripped apart most of the landscape. Those at home in Germany suffered, but their elders were disillusioned regarding the superiority of their military might, and the consequences war was costing them.
The prospective on the war propaganda is magnificent. Scenes of teachers instilling in their students the image that war is glorious and prompting them to rush out and enlist, only to find that war is hell, and death is all that awaits most of them is very powerful. Older gentleman in town arguing over how the war should be won, without any real concept of the consequences are great. Realistic problems which these youths suffered upon returning home from the war are also raised. It is mentioned of how this generation of Germans would have trouble fitting back into society because war was all they knew reminds me of our American soldiers returning from Vietnam. Both were at war for long periods of time and returned home from a losing war.
I picked this book up because I saw it mentioned on a list of "The One Hundred Greatest Books Ever Written". After reading it, I believe they were justified in including it on that list.
P.S. The movie was just as good.

I read this when I was 15 in sophomore english class... I then bought the book myself and read it at least once or twice a year. The message is heart breaking, true, and clear. The style of writing is beautiful. This was the only book I actually read in my sophomore class... for the rest I just skimmed. I was planning on skimming, but The first chapter caught my eye. Definitely worth the price, such a beautiful book.

All Quiet on the Western Front is a captivating story about a young German solider in World War I. The author, Erich Maria Remarque, tells us of the horror and violence Paul Baumer and his comrades face during their combat in the trenches. These soldiers are forever torn away from their youth. All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the greatest war books around. I give it my highest recommendation.