Today, while training for The Frontline Walk 2022, I finished the audiobook, All quiet on The Western Front. Written by Erich Maria Remarque and wonderfully narrated by Tom Lawrence. I listened to this audiobook whist training for The ABF Soldiers Charity Frontline Walk. As I write this, in just over 2 weeks, I will be walking along The Western Front of WW1. It is a 100k charity walk from the Lochnagar crater in France to the Menin Gate in Belgium. There is a link below where you can find out more. I bought this audiobook as a way for me to be more involved with this charity walk and to lean. I have been listening to podcasts about WW1 and this audiobook looked good from the reviews. What amazed me about this story is the brutal honesty, insight, and detail in which this story is told. It follows the personal stories of Paul Bäumer, a German Soldier. We follow his story from school to the horrific frontline trenches of Flanders. Through his eyes, we get an incredibly personal and detailed view into life on the frontline in 1914 and beyond. We hear stories of battle, love, loss, home, and war. We get an incredible look into how that generation felt their lives, their youth, was stolen from them. And how brotherhood meant more to them than anything else in the world. I highly recommend this book/audio book to anyone with an interest in WW1. Although I will say that there are harsh, graphic and upsetting scenes in this story. As in the title, I was walking whilst listening to this, and despite that, passing walkers would have seen many expressions on my face; laughter, frustration, disgust, and tears.

I give this book an awesome 5/5.

There is a modern film adaptation of this story, of the same name, being released on Netflix October 28th. I will review this as a film for my WCCS Movie Room podcast. Which is an extension of my live streaming YouTube podcast, The Writing Community Chat Show.

https://events.soldierscharity.org/fundraisers/christopheraggett