All Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet on the Western FrontDescription by Erich Maria Remarque Paperback 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 Bumer, 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

by an unseen enemy

One of the most famous battles in history

with WWI entering its tenth month

monumental forces were shaken

but an in-depth examination of a single regiment that allows the reader to appreciate the intricacies of small-unit action and the problems associated with leading platoons

representatives of combatant nations navigated a diplomatic tightrope between carrying out their patriotic duty to support war efforts and making sure their "hosts"

Tooze delineates the world remade by American economic and military power

it is the story of all the young forgotten soldiers who fought and bravely died for their country

and finally took command of the 80th Wing from June 1918 until the end of the war

Balakian continues his exploration of the Armenian Genocide with new chapters about his journey to Aleppo and his trip to the Der Zor desert of Syria in his pursuit of his grandmother's life

decides to return to France with his fellow officer

But long before this happened