[January 23, 2022] Since America’s stunning self-inflicted debacle in Afghanistan, there has been a growing interest in the Soldier. What is he thinking, what are his deprivations, his fears and desires, loves, and why would a person ever consider the role of a soldier, Marine, sailor, airman, or coastguardsman? This thinking is wrapped up with the “woke” military leadership that have lost their sense of direction. Americans realize these leaders no longer believe their priority is to protect the United States of America from foreign enemies but to protect us from ourselves. I remember seeing the first war movie was All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). I saw it in an old movie theater with my younger brother, and, as movies tend to do, it scared me silly. Today, seeing it still haunts me. Usually, my reading list is reserved for non-fiction books, those that one can learn about leadership and its usefulness. In this case, All Quiet on the Western Front is a book on the harrowing account of warfare in World War I. We can learn something from it.
All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque, 1929.
I’m recommending this book. I do so because it covers the many themes I also address in my leadership blog. Combat and its relationship with human nature are drawn out for us all to ‘see’ in Remarque’s novel. The book describes the German soldiers’ extreme physical and mental stress during the war and the detachment from civilian life felt by those soldiers upon returning home from the front. The book was initially published in German (if you can read it in its original form, great). Our English translation by A.W. Wheen has Anglicized some lesser-known German references and softened certain passages while omitting some entirely. Still, we gain much from the novel.
The book tells the story of Paul Bäumer, who belongs to a group of German soldiers on the Western Front during World War I. The book is neither pro nor anti-war but simply tells of the privations of those who fought. That is the story. The battles fought here have no names and, frankly, have little significance except that combat brings the possibility of death or severe injury. Two significant themes one can find here. The first is that soldiers have difficulty adapting to civilian life after experiencing extreme combat. Another is the concept of blind nationalism. Remarque’s book was a huge success. It emerged as an eloquent spokesman for a generation that had been “destroyed by war, even though it might have escaped its shells.”
All Quiet on the Western Front received harsh criticism. The strongest voices against Remarque were from the emerging Nazi Party and its ideological allies. In 1933, the book was one of the first “degenerate books” to be publically burnt. Screening of the movie (based on the book) was met with Nazi-organized protests and mob attacks. The book was also banned in other European countries.
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Please read my newest book, “Our Longest Year in Iraq,” at Amazon (link here).
To go to the complete Professional Reading list, click on this direct link: www.theleadermaker.com/reading-list/
Side Note: Please remember and take a look at Tom Copeland’s reading blog. His website, which I highly recommend, can be found here: https://militaryreadinglists.com/map
My sister Rachael just read this book and told me about it. She had to write a report, got a B+. Ha ha! Great story. 👍
Read the book long ago but ordered it on Goodreads and will read it again when the old book arrives.
Excellent review, thank-you Gen. Satterfield. More book reviews like this helps me be a better person but more importantly to be humble and appreciative that I or my family doesn’t have to fight in war like these poor men did.
Yes, I’m new here and was thinking the same.
A great book. I read somewhere that Victor Davis Hanson, great American historian, recommends the book as well.
A special plug for Gen. Satterfield’s book, ‘Our Longest Year in Iraq.’ I just got my copy a few days ago and read the whole thing in three days. Easy read, no blood and guts (so if you want this, go elsewhere), much of it is behind the scenes stuff you cannot even begin to imagine. Worth the $15 bucks or so. Thanks Gen. Satterfield!
https://www.amazon.com/Our-Longest-Year-Iraq-Construction/dp/1737915510/
Loved it. Leave a review with Amazon.
Gen. Satterfield, I do like your Book Review / Reading Lists. And for those who do not know, there is a a tab for his official reading list.
https://www.theleadermaker.com/reading-list/
These listed here are not just classics but modern philosophy written in modern terms that we all can understand and apply. Much better than the older texts.
I see that the Nazis considered All Quiet on the Western Front to be one of those ‘degenerate books’ to be burned. Just like our social media and government officials today in the US who say many books should be banned or never printed. A modern day book burning is happening right before our eyes and many of our citizens approve of it just like the Nazis of the 1930s. Shame on them for their forsaking of freedom.
Yeah, pow, wow, got that right Max Foster. Those who cannot see the parallels are purposefully stupid. Caught up in the anti-freedom movement is easy because the first requirement is you give up all responsibility. Easy.
Too easy to be a liberal, leftist, progressive Marxist. Easy is why this pervasive ideology continues to flourish.
Too easy. 👍
Ha ha, Bernie. Not THE Bernie, I assume?
🇦🇺✔️
Tolles Buch. Ein Buch zum Lesen. Great book, read it in German if you can. Better that way.
Ich spreche kein Deutsch, aber die englische Version ist in Ordnung.
Most of us don’t have that option. But I understand where you are coming from. Translations always lose some of the color of the original. I read this book long ago but now I think I just might buy another copy on Kindle and read it.
You can get it in PDF format for free here and probably other places too. Just search for it.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=YXBwcy5kaXN0cmljdDgzMy5vcmd8Y2FyYm9uZWVuZ2xpc2h8Z3g6NzMzYWI5MGM0NDNiNjc0NA
Thanks Stacey. These links tend not to last but I downloaded the file to my computer so I can read it at my leasure.
Thanks Stacey.
Saw the original movie and the remake. Both pretty good. Never read the book. But I will order it and read it. I should have read it earlier.