I forgot...

OTF, I completely agree with you. It might be the greatest novel about war of the XX century. Not of History, because where would you leave Lev Tolstói's "War and Peace"?

Did you know that Erich Maria Remarque was very, very near to winning the Nobel Prize of Literature in 192... something —I don't remember the year right now— after the releasing of "All Quiet in the Western Front"?

But Nobel Prizes are not awarded by just one book, but for a whole outstanding literary career...

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"War is less costly than servitude, the choice is always between Verdun and Dachau." - Jean Dutourd, French veteran of both world wars

"A mon fils: depuis que tes yeux sont fermes les miens n’ont cessé de pleurir." - Mère française, Verdun