Title: Storm of Steel
Author: Ernst Jünger
What I Think So Far: This book acts as an account of the First World War from the perspective of a German soldier on the Western front, who ascends from ordinary private to Lieutenant. It is adapted from Jünger’s diaries that he kept while stationed on the Western Front. Jünger, unlike British writers such as Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon, never comments on the horror of war. He remains impartial and stays close to fact throughout the book. This is rather unnerving in itself, how eerily casual Jünger is as he describes the horrific injuries and deaths of his comrades.
Would I recommend it?: Absolutely. Storm of Steel is a gripping read. We rarely hear a German perspective of World War One, and this presents an extremely detailed one, as Jünger survived right through the whole war. Jünger is an extremely skilled diarist, and we see that here, in his best-known book. If you enjoy First World War literature, this is an absolute treasure, along with Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front and Owen’s Anthem for a Doomed Youth.
Rating: 9/10
Words by Gabriel Rutherford