Storm of Steel

Ernst Jünger recounts his experiences as a German infantryman on the Western Front during the First World War. He arrives in France as a young volunteer and soon learns the routines of trench warfare, from night patrols and sentry duty to the long waits between bombardments. As he rises to command a platoon, he leads raids and assaults, suffers repeated wounds, and watches many of his comrades die. His account moves between the chaos of battle and quieter moments of boredom, humor, and fellowship. Jünger describes combat with a cool precision that captures both its brutality and the exhilaration he sometimes felt under fire. The memoir follows him through the German offensive of 1918 to the severe wound that ends his time at the front.