"Trench fighting is the bloodiest, wildest, most brutal of all... Of all
the war's exciting moments none is so powerful as the meeting of two
storm troop leaders between narrow trench walls. There's no mercy there,
no going back, the blood speaks from a shrill cry of recognition that
tears itself from one's breast like a nightmare." --Ernst Jünger, The
Storm of Steel, 1929
Ernst Jünger, German author of one of the most famous books on World War
I, The Storm of Steel--From the Diary of a German Storm-Troop Officer
on the Western Front (1929), in which he describes the life of a
soldier, the brutality of trench warfare and the act of killing on the
battlefields in France and Belgium in a detailed and matter-of-fact
manner.
This classic memoir is a must-read for military historians, policy
makers, and anyone interested in learning about war and the experiences
of the soldiers fighting a war.