Historical fiction book · Curated
All Quiet on the Western Front
Erich Maria Remarque · historical fiction
German soldiers experience the brutal reality of World War I trenches.
Why read it: Essential anti-war historical novel—still devastating.
About this historical novel
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque is historical fiction set around 1914–1918 in the World War I era period with key settings including Western Front, Germany. German soldiers experience the brutal reality of World War I trenches.
On HisFic we tag it under 5. Military & war and 1. Literary historical fiction so you can pair it with similar story types. Recurring themes include war, youth, trauma, and disillusionment. Essential anti-war historical novel—still devastating.
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Plot summary
German soldiers experience the brutal reality of World War I trenches. Essential anti-war historical novel—still devastating.
Subgenres
Eras
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Curated titles that share era, story type, or themes.
- Birdsong · Sebastian Faulks
Stephen Wraysford’s prewar love affair in Amiens is swallowed by the Somme, the tunnels under the Western Front, and the unmaking of a generation. A later strand follows his granddaughter as she tries to recover what the Great War buried.
- A Farewell to Arms · Ernest Hemingway
On the Italian front in World War I, American ambulance driver Frederic Henry falls in love with British nurse Catherine Barkley as the Caporetto retreat unravels the army around them. Hemingway’s 1929 novel is Great War historical fiction stripped to weather, wounds, and a private peace that cannot hold.
- The Last Town on Earth · Thomas Mullen
A mill town quarantines itself against the 1918 flu (SAH Prize 2007).
- The Alice Network · Kate Quinn
In 1947 a pregnant American college student hunts for a missing Frenchwoman and collides with Eve Gardiner, a damaged veteran of a real World War I spy ring. Dual timelines braid the Alice Network’s 1915 missions in occupied France with a postwar reckoning.
- The Women · Kristin Hannah
A young American nurse serves in Vietnam and struggles to be seen when she comes home.
- The Book Thief · Markus Zusak
A girl steals books in Nazi Germany; Death narrates a story of words and survival.
Regions & places
Europe
Western Front · Germany
Themes
- war
- youth
- trauma
- disillusionment
Tags
classic · war · literary