Product Description

A memoir of astonishing power, savagery and ashen lyricism, Storm of Steel depicts Ernst Junger's experience of combat in the German front line - leading raiding parties, defending trenches against murderous British incursions, and simply enduring as shells tore his comrades apart. One of the greatest books to emerge from the catastrophe of the First World War, it illuminates like no other book not only the horrors but also the fascination of a war that made men keep fighting on for four long years.

A new translation by Michael Hoffman.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #54743 in Books
• Published on: 2004-06-03
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Evening Standard, August 18, 2003 (by Richard Holmes)
"This is unquestionably one of the most striking accounts of the First World War..."

Telegraph, August 23, 2003 (by Daniel Johnson)
"What raises Jünger to the level of epic is the grandeur of the prose, which is sublime but never sentimental."

Telegraph, August 24, 2003 (by Tibor Fischer)
"Ernst Jünger is unarguably an original…"

Customer Reviews

Seriously younger
Along with All Quiet on the Western front it should be compulsory reading for any head of state, or government, considering war. A very modern book in tone, it's open and honest description of trench live in The Great War makes it a fresh read. I've read several books on more recent conflicts that feel more dated (I don't speak German, so the modern translation may play a part). Junger's depiction of events is vivid, when he finds his injured brother at the front it felt like a plot device from a novel, the only difference being it happened. His likening of being shelled to being tied to a post and having a sledgehammer repeatedly aimed at your head, but it just missing every time, is an image that will stay with me. As a memoir of an infantry leader I think it takes some beating.

Definitively 5 Stars
This is 'the' First World War memoir from the German perspective - and five stars is pretty well obligatory. Well written and highly informative. It has the grip of a novel - with telling observation, and unflinching depictions of a crucial moment in history.

Excellent translation
Michael Hofmann's 2003 translation of Ernst Jünger's "In Stahlgewittern" captures the very essence of the original text with superb fluidity. Jünger's text is certainly self congratulatory and is peppered with exoticism and an aestheticisation of war. The self stylisation of the novel is seen with his cavalier disregard for his own safety. Nevertheless, the reader is plunged into the trenches and experiences the horrors and trials of war, albeit through the mediated voice of Jünger. An excellent insight into the life of a soldier during the First World War.