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What famous novel describes World War I?

The most famous novel to describe World War I is All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque.  Remarque was a German writer who had fought and been wounded in the Great War.  He wrote this, his most famous work, in 1928.


All Quiet on the Western Front is famous because of the way in which it depicts the horrors of war.  The book follows the experiences of a young soldier, Paul Baumer, during the last days of the war.  The book attempts to convey to the reader all the negative aspects of war.  It shows the boredom, the hunger, and the terror.  It shows how being a soldier and going to war alienates Paul from his family and civilian life.  It shows how pointless the war is as men die in battles that accomplish nothing.  Finally, it shows how little regard there is for any individual life as Paul dies at the end of the war but the report from the front is “all quiet on the Western Front.”  Paul has died, but the world is told that nothing happened on the Western Front that day.


Because Remarque’s novel portrayed the war in such stark and negative terms, it became very popular among many.  It is the most famous novel to describe WWI.

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