[Erich Maria Remarque] is a craftsman of unquestionably first rank.--The New York Times Book Review

I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow. . . .

This is the testament of Paul Bäumer, who enlists with his classmates in the German army during World War I. They become soldiers with youthful enthusiasm. But the world of duty, culture, and progress they had been taught breaks in pieces under the first bombardment in the trenches.

Through years of vivid horror, Paul holds fast to a single vow: to fight against the principle of hate that meaninglessly pits young men of the same generation but different uniforms against one another . . . if only he can come out of the war alive.

[Erich Maria Remarque] is a craftsman of unquestionably first rank.--The New York Times Book Review

I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow. . . .

This is the testament of Paul Bäumer, who enlists with his classmates in the German army during World War I. They become soldiers with youthful enthusiasm. But the world of duty, culture, and progress they had been taught breaks in pieces under the first bombardment in the trenches.

Through years of vivid horror, Paul holds fast to a single vow: to fight against the principle of hate that meaninglessly pits young men of the same generation but different uniforms against one another . . . if only he can come out of the war alive.

When twenty-year-old Paul Bäumer and his classmates enlist in the German army during World War I, they are full of youthful enthusiam. But the world of duty, culture, and progress they had been taught to believe in shatters under the first brutal bombardment in the trenches. Through the ensuing years of horror, Paul holds fast to a single vow: to fight against the principle of hate that meaninglessly pits young men of the same generation but different uniforms against one another.

Erich Maria Remarque's classic novel not only portrays in vivid detail the combatants' physical and mental trauma, but dramatizes as well the tragic detachment from civilian life felt by many upon returning home. Remarque's stated intention--to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war--remains as powerful and relevant as ever, a century after that conflict's end.

An immediate sensation when it was published in 1929, Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front has sold more than twenty million copies worldwide since then, making it the best-selling German novel of all time. Its impact is indisputable: it has been adapted for film, television, and other media; has influenced all subsequent works of war literature; and has been taught in high school and college classes ever since.

Until now, one translation--published in 1929, and very much a product of its time--has introduced most readers in English to Remarque's wrenching portrait of the horrors of trench warfare. Now, nearly a century later, renowned translator Kurt Beals recaptures the energy and descriptive force of the German original, rendering Remarque's distinctly terse, telegraphic prose into a contemporary idiom, conveying for a new generation the immediacy and intensity of this classic novel.

Im Westen nichts Neues erschien als Vorabdruck ab dem 10. November 1928 in der Vossischen Zeitung, in Buchform beim Propyläen Verlag am 29. Januar 1929. Innerhalb von elf Wochen erreichte es nach Verlagsangaben eine Auflage von 450.000 Exemplaren. Es wurde noch im selben Jahr in 26 Sprachen übersetzt. Bis heute gibt es Ausgaben in über 50 Sprachen, die geschätzten Verkaufszahlen weltweit liegen bei über 20 Millionen.

Bei den Nationalsozialisten hatte sich Remarque mit seinem Roman Feinde gemacht. Als Teil ihrer Rufmordkampagne gegen den missliebigen Autor bezweifelten sie dessen Authentizität und verbreiteten das Gerücht, er habe überhaupt nicht am Ersten Weltkrieg teilgenommen. Während der nationalsozialistischen Bücherverbrennungen 1933 wurden zahlreiche Exemplare von Im Westen nichts Neues vernichtet.

Weitere Bekanntheit erreichte das Werk durch die US-amerikanische Verfilmung aus dem Jahre 1930 von Lewis Milestone, die mit zwei Oscars ausgezeichnet wurde. Der Roman wurde 1979 unter gleichem Titel von Delbert Mann als Fernsehfilm inszeniert. Im Jahr 2022 schuf Regisseur Edward Berger die erste deutsche Verfilmung des Buches. Bei der Oscarverleihung 2023 wurde der Film mit vier Oscars ausgezeichnet.

From the perspective of Paul Bäumer, a young German soldier in World War I, comes an unsettling tale of the mundanity and misery of trench warfare on the Western Front. When Paul and his comrades volunteer for the Imperial German Army, pressured into this act of patriotism by idealistic parents and a steely schoolmaster, they quickly learn that the authorities they trusted to shape their minds and guide their growth were condemning them to unimaginable danger and squalor, in the name of duty to an old world in its death throes.

Bombarded by shells and bombs, by horror after horror, Paul absorbs the sordid lessons of combat and reflects upon the strangers on the arbitrary other side, transformed into enemies by a distant word of command. With timeless insight and searing prose, Erich Maria Remarque draws readers into the embattled consciences of soldiers on the frontlines, enlivening a tragic story with characters whose survival one hopes for against all odds.

Set in the throes of The Great War's terrifying trenches, All Quiet on the Western Front casts the reader in the shoes of the Patriotic soldier Paul Bäumer. His naïve allusions of war's nobility and sense of adventure are demolished in the face of indifferent industrial warfare. Though unfolding more than a century ago, Erich Maria Remarque crafts a timeless exploration of the impact of war on the human spirit and the ugly truth of survival. Acclaimed in its own time, the story obliges itself to be read by each new generation, lest we forget its lessons and find ourselves in our own War to End All Wars.

When twenty-year-old Paul Bäumer and his classmates enlist in the German army during World War I, they are full of youthful enthusiam. But the world of duty, culture, and progress they had been taught to believe in shatters under the first brutal bombardment in the trenches. Through the ensuing years of horror, Paul holds fast to a single vow: to fight against the principle of hate that meaninglessly pits young men of the same generation but different uniforms against one another.

Erich Maria Remarque's classic novel not only portrays in vivid detail the combatants' physical and mental trauma, but dramatizes as well the tragic detachment from civilian life felt by many upon returning home. Remarque's stated intention--to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war--remains as powerful and relevant as ever, a century after that conflict's end.

Everyman's Library pursues the highest production standards, printing on acid-free cream-colored paper, with full-cloth cases with two-color foil stamping, decorative endpapers, silk ribbon markers, European-style half-round spines, and a full-color illustrated jacket. Contemporary Classics include an introduction, a select bibliography, and a chronology of the author's life and times.

This is the testament of Paul Bäumer, who enlists with his classmates in the German army during World War I. They become soldiers with youthful enthusiasm. But the world of duty, culture, and progress they had been taught breaks in pieces under the first bombardment in the trenches. 
 
Through years of vivid horror, Paul holds fast to a single vow: to fight against the principle of hate that meaninglessly pits young men of the same generation but different uniforms against one another . . .  if only he can come out of the war alive. 

This masterpiece of war literature that will change your perspective on life and humanity.** Follow the journey of Paul, a young German soldier who enlists in World War I with his friends, full of enthusiasm and patriotism. But soon, he faces the horrors of the trenches, where death, disease, and despair lurk at every corner. He witnesses the brutality and futility of war, and he vows to resist the hatred that makes him kill his fellow human beings, who are just like him, except for their uniforms. This book is a powerful and moving portrait of the suffering, the courage, and the longing for peace of a generation that was sacrificed for a senseless conflict. It is widely regarded as the best war novel of all time, and it has been adapted into an Oscar-winning movie that you can watch on Netflix.

I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow... 

This is the testament of Paul Bäumer, who enlists with his classmates in the German army during World War I. They become soldiers with youthful enthusiasm. But the world of duty, culture, and progress they had been taught breaks in pieces under the first bombardment in the trenches. 
 
Through years of vivid horror, Paul holds fast to a single vow: to fight against the principle of hate that meaninglessly pits young men of the same generation but different uniforms against one another...if only he can come out of the war alive. 

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque is a harrowing and deeply human exploration of the brutal realities of war. Set against the backdrop of World War I, the novel follows Paul Bäumer, a young German soldier who, along with his comrades, is thrust into the violent chaos of the Western Front. Through Paul's eyes, Remarque vividly depicts the horrors of combat, the emotional toll of constant death, and the disillusionment that war brings to those who fight it.

As the soldiers endure relentless bombardments, gas attacks, and the loss of friends, they grapple with a profound sense of alienation and despair. What begins as a patriotic call to arms for Paul and his peers quickly devolves into a desperate struggle for survival. The bond between soldiers becomes their only solace in an unforgiving world, and as the war drags on, the line between life and death blurs.

With stark realism, Remarque captures the profound psychological trauma of war, stripping away any romanticism and exposing its dehumanizing effects. All Quiet on the Western Front is a timeless anti-war masterpiece that examines the deep emotional and physical scars left on those who are caught in the horrors of conflict. It's a poignant meditation on loss, the fragility of youth, and the tragic futility of war that will resonate with readers long after the final page is turned.

Written with the same overwhelming simplicity and directness that made All Quiet on the Western Front a classic, Three Comrades portrays the greatness of the human spirit, manifested through characters who must find the inner resources to live in a world they did not make, but must endure.

The world has a great writer in Erich Maria Remarque. He is a craftsman of unquestionably first rank, a man who can bend language to his will. Whether he writes of men or of inanimate nature, his touch is sensitive, firm, and sure.--The New York Times Book Review

2025 Reprint of the 1929 Edition.Full facsimile of the original edition and not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software.

The original US edition of the masterpiece of war literature depicting the plight of German soldiers during World War I

From the perspective of Paul Bäumer, a young German soldier in World War I, comes an unsettling tale of the tedium and misery of trench warfare on the Western Front. When Paul and his comrades volunteer for the Imperial German Army, pressured into this act of patriotism by idealistic parents and a steely schoolmaster, they quickly learn that the authorities they trusted to shape their minds and guide their growth were condemning them to unimaginable danger and squalor, in the name of duty to an old world in its death throes.

Bombarded by shells and bombs, by horror after horror, Paul absorbs the sordid lessons of combat and reflects upon the strangers on the arbitrary other side, transformed into enemies by a distant word of command. With timeless insight and searing prose, Erich Maria Remarque draws readers into the embattled consciences of soldiers on the front lines, enlivening a tragic story with characters whose survival one hopes for against all odds.

The greatest war book that has yet been written.―Redakteur Stohr

Surpasses all other war books in its cruel truth.―L'Action Francaise

Unquestionably the best story of the world war.―H. L. Mencken

A great document. A powerful work of art.―Albert Engstrom

This masterpiece of war literature that will change your perspective on life and humanity.** Follow the journey of Paul, a young German soldier who enlists in World War I with his friends, full of enthusiasm and patriotism. But soon, he faces the horrors of the trenches, where death, disease, and despair lurk at every corner. He witnesses the brutality and futility of war, and he vows to resist the hatred that makes him kill his fellow human beings, who are just like him, except for their uniforms. This book is a powerful and moving portrait of the suffering, the courage, and the longing for peace of a generation that was sacrificed for a senseless conflict. It is widely regarded as the best war novel of all time, and it has been adapted into an Oscar-winning movie that you can watch on Netflix.