Storm of Steel

First published in German in 1920 and English in 1929, “Storm of Steel” is Ernst Jünger’s memoir as a German officer serving at the Western Front of World War I from December 1914 to August 1918. What is remarkable about this memoir is the absence of moralizing or political arguments for or against the military conflict. Instead, it focuses on the brutal realism of trench warfare. Separately, Jünger describes conflict at Les Éparges, the village of Guillemont, the Battle of Arras, the Third Battle of Ypres, the German counter-attack during the Battle of Cambrai, and the German spring offensive of 1918. Wounded a total of fourteen times, Jünger received numerous medals for his courage during the conflict. Described by French author André Gide as “utterly honest, truthful, in good faith,” Ernst Jünger’s memoir remains an important contribution to the genre of World War I autobiography. This edition follows the 1924 revised edition translated by Basil Creighton.