224 pages
English language
Published Aug. 6, 2005 by Vintage.
In 1914 a room full of German schoolboys, fresh-faced and idealistic, are goaded by their chauvinistic schoolmaster to troop off to the 'glorious war'. With the fire and patriotism of youth they sign up. Their disenchantment begins during the brutal basic training and then, as they board the train to the front, they see the terrible injuries suffered on the front line - their first glimpse of the reality of war.
Erich must have been to war, there is no other way he could have done such a good job describing the horrors, joys, banalities, and excitement of rest war. There is no other way he could have known how a person becomes completely changed by it, hollowed out by it, and yet must continue on. If he hasn't, he is an even better writer still.
