... And Peace

The global bestseller of anti-war literature and the source text for the Oscar-winning Netflix film adaptation. The most important German...

The global bestseller of anti-war literature and the source text for the Oscar-winning Netflix film adaptation. The most important German novel about the First World War, presented here with a history of the text's creation and reception, and an afterword by Remarque expert Thomas F. Schneider. Erich Maria Remarque created a timeless depiction of the horrors of modern war and achieved worldwide fame with this novel. It tells the story of nineteen-year-old Paul Bäumer, who goes straight from the classroom to the frontline as an unsuspecting war volunteer. The way in which Bäumer is shown experiencing the full brutality of slaughter and the senseless deaths of his comrades - a far cry from the brief, exciting war adventure he was hoping for - is moving and shocking.

At the end of 1918, a handful of soldiers return from the Western Front, only to find that society's earlier...

At the end of 1918, a handful of soldiers return from the Western Front, only to find that society's earlier enthusiasm for war has been replaced by pure contempt... The sequel to the global bestseller All Quiet on the Western Front.

Young soldier Ernst Graeber is granted a few weeks' leave from the frontline - and meets the love of his...

Young soldier Ernst Graeber is granted a few weeks' leave from the frontline - and meets the love of his life in the dying days of the Third Reich. Only now do fear, terror and persecution make him realise the utter futility of the war. But it is too late, because he has to go back and fight...

1923: a society in moral freefall, filled with gamblers, racketeers, war invalids, the destitute, losers and profiteers. People have learned...

1923: a society in moral freefall, filled with gamblers, racketeers, war invalids, the destitute, losers and profiteers. People have learned how to survive but not how to live fully - like Ludwig, who lost his youth to war and has no idea where he belongs. Then he meets the beautiful, schizophrenic Isabelle...

This short story collection is about the fates of those who escaped the hell of the trenches and are now...

This short story collection is about the fates of those who escaped the hell of the trenches and are now trying to find their way amid the normality of everyday post-war life.

The thoughts and confessions of an uncompromising author, who fought his entire life against war and militarism and for humanity...

The thoughts and confessions of an uncompromising author, who fought his entire life against war and militarism and for humanity and altruism. This volume's texts, interviews, work notes, reviews and political essays provide a comprehensive insight into Remarque's thinking while also mirroring the history of the century. "I'd always thought that everyone was against war, until I discovered some are for it - especially those who don't have to go [to war]." (E.M. Remarque)

A cosmopolitan, a lover, a passionate critic of his time - this is the definitive biography of Remarque. In his...

A cosmopolitan, a lover, a passionate critic of his time - this is the definitive biography of Remarque. In his novels, like Emile Zola before him, Erich Maria Remarque created a powerful moral portrait of his time - an era dominated by war, terror, expulsion, violence and lies, in which humane values and qualities, such as love and friendship, were constantly under threat. Remarque's life was shaped by political circumstances, but also by his wealth and countless affairs - for example, with Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, and Elisabeth Bergner - and his relationship with alcohol. Renowned journalist and author Wilhelm von Sternburg has written the first comprehensive biography of this author, whose books sold in their millions and were made into numerous films, and whose dazzling life - glamorous yet difficult, committed yet torn - has never been described with such precision and depth of knowledge. Sternburg's brilliant and vivid biography links Remarque's life with the history of his works and time, and draws on extensive materials that have not been widely accessible until now, such as letters and diaries.

Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the best-known and most successful novels of the...

Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the best-known and most successful novels of the 20th century. Beyond literature, Remarque was a drinker and lover of women. Twice married to dancer Ilse Jutta Zambona, his affairs included Marlene Dietrich, the 'divine' Greta Garbo and Tsar's niece Natasha Paley. And finally there was Paulette Goddard, whom he got to know while she was with Charlie Chaplin, and with whom he shared a liberating, happy time.

This is a fascinating portrait of Remarque - and an extraordinary tribute, one hundred years on from the First World War he so hauntingly described.

On 16 December 1943, dressmaker Elfriede Scholz was beheaded at Berlin's Plötzensee Prison after a friend denounced her for allegedly...

On 16 December 1943, dressmaker Elfriede Scholz was beheaded at Berlin's Plötzensee Prison after a friend denounced her for allegedly 'subverting the war effort', but also because of her famous brother: Erich Maria Remarque. The author of the anti-war novel All Quiet on the Western Front, who had been ostracised in Nazi Germany, settled in America during the Second World War, socialising with émigrés and film stars like Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo - wealthy but rootless. He only learned of his sister's death in 1946.

Heinrich Thies vividly recounts the story of two very different siblings caught up in the maelstrom of history. He also draws on a wide range of documents, some previously unpublished, such as diary entries, letters and court records.

This novel depicts Remarque's years in exile on Lake Maggiore. The night before Hitler's appointment as Reich Chancellor, Erich Maria...

This novel depicts Remarque's years in exile on Lake Maggiore. The night before Hitler's appointment as Reich Chancellor, Erich Maria Remarque flees Berlin and goes into exile on Lake Maggiore in Switzerland. Shortly afterwards, his novels are burning on Nazi pyres. Remarque is plunged into a deep state of helplessness by these political events; artistically, he has also been struggling for years with a new novel. He numbs his depression with cigarettes, alcohol and erotic escapades, into which he throws himself with ex-wife Jutta. She has also fled from the Nazis, whose rabble-rousing leads the exile community in Ascona to grow with every passing day.

In his own lifetime, Erich Maria Remarque was seen as one of the most influential German-language authors. But what status...

In his own lifetime, Erich Maria Remarque was seen as one of the most influential German-language authors. But what status do he and his works hold internationally today? How are his works and views discussed today? The contributions in this volume shed light on these questions from historical, literary and cultural perspectives. They provide an overview of Remarque's reception in individual countries and cultures, and examine the changes the author's image and works have undergone in the eyes of readers worldwide in recent decades. As well as focusing on Remarque's reception and legacy in literary studies and literature, the volume explores artistic engagements with Remarque's work in film, theatre, visual art and graphic novels.

The essays in this volume engage with aspects of the author's life, work and reception which have been virtually ignored...

The essays in this volume engage with aspects of the author's life, work and reception which have been virtually ignored until now. Not only is there detailed analysis of the Argentinian comic version of the novel The Road Back, but also of adaptations of Remarque's works in comics and manga from China, Japan and Korea. Remarque's progressive convictions, which stem from his didactic experiences as a teacher, are reflected in his novel about a German concentration camp, Der Funke Leben (Spark of Life) and applied to his oeuvre as a whole. Other contributions include an exploration of literary reactions to the outbreak of the Second World War in the Social Democratic exile newspaper Neuer Vorwärts, and the depiction of the German Armed Forces' Afghanistan mission in contemporary German-language literature.

Historical research has dispelled a number of myths surrounding the First World War. Whereas the outbreak of war was greeted...

Historical research has dispelled a number of myths surrounding the First World War. Whereas the outbreak of war was greeted by the urban middle classes with frenzied enthusiasm, the mood in working-class areas and smaller towns was more one of foreboding. Little attention has so far been paid to those who opposed the war and its underlying culture of militarism, although opposition to war and militarism has a distinguished German pedigree.

This volume explores opposition to war and militarism among a range of German-language authors in a period roughly defined by two international bestsellers: Bertha von Suttner's Die Waffen nieder! (Lay Down Your Arms!) (1889) and Erich Maria Remarque's Im Westen nichts Neues (All Quiet on the Western Front) (1928). Major figures (Kraus, Schnitzler, Zweig) have already received some critical attention, but other authors discussed here (such as Andreas Latzko and Hans Chlumberg) are still far from being household names. These essays remind us that the period's opposition to war and militarism manifested itself in a broad range of literary forms and publications, providing a different emphasis from previous volumes exploring connections between German-language literature and pacifism.

Human rights are one of the undisputed pillars of liberal democracies. That all human beings are 'born free and equal...

Human rights are one of the undisputed pillars of liberal democracies. That all human beings are 'born free and equal in dignity and rights' seems self-evident to us. But in his history of human rights, Stefan-Ludwig Hoffmann shows just how recent this view is.  The belief in the universality of human rights, Hoffmann argues, is itself historical, arising from the social and political conflicts of the past few centuries: colonialism and imperial world domination; the rise of the nation state and a world of independent states; globalisation and new inequalities. Only in retrospect is it clear that human rights were often used to negotiate completely contradictory things at different historical moments. In this brilliant study, Hoffmann traces the tensions that formed part of their development and poses an uncomfortable question: is the human rights idealism of the late 20th century now coming to an end?

All around the world, inequality and poverty are on the rise, and human rights are being trampled underfoot. But does...

All around the world, inequality and poverty are on the rise, and human rights are being trampled underfoot. But does this mean that they no longer hold any meaning? Or do they simply need to be reconceptualised and refreshed to unlock their transformative potential? In addition to being Edward Snowden's lawyer, Wolfgang Kaleck has taken part in many criminal cases, among others against Donald Rumsfeld and Argentinian military dictators. A participant in international legal battles, at times against transnational corporations, Kaleck has now designed a concrete new utopia. He criticises the currently accepted formulation of human rights, which is too narrow, and broadens the terms of the debate by examining history and relevant struggles worldwide. So that things don't always stay the same; so that something really changes. The international human rights revolution starts here!

What is 'enlightenment'? And how has this concept and its star power been carried over to the present day? The...

What is 'enlightenment'? And how has this concept and its star power been carried over to the present day? The Enlightenment is linked to the 18th century and considered a major achievement of European history. To this day, its ideas and associated metaphors are used to enforce or combat certain concepts and practices. As a result, the question of what 'enlightenment' actually is has become more topical than ever before. 

The essays in this volume examine the Enlightenment from the perspective of literary and cultural studies, theology, history and media theory, focusing on the historical epoch and its reception, as well as problematic processes of appropriation and dispossession bound up with the latter. The book thus thematises the history and impact of the concept of enlightenment while simultaneously building a vital bridge to contemporary debates.

The critical examination of the legitimacy of monarchical rule began with this question: why do people accept their own subjugation?...

The critical examination of the legitimacy of monarchical rule began with this question: why do people accept their own subjugation? It marks the beginning of the history of democracy. The 16th century, a time of profound cultural and economic change in Europe, saw the emergence of a radical new critique of rulers. The latter remains relevant today, because it addressed a new kind of audience: the ruled masses. Machiavelli, unjustly criticised for his role as a princely advisor, and Étienne de La Boétie both questioned the rationale for ruling over others by adopting the perspective of the people. What develops is not simply a different view of how monarchical rule functions. The peculiar ambivalence of emancipation movements fighting violent oppression, whose breakthroughs came via democratic revolutions, is also revealed.

The Enlightenment is the best thing humanity ever produced. Its essence is the pursuit of objectivity and intersubjective justification: an...

The Enlightenment is the best thing humanity ever produced. Its essence is the pursuit of objectivity and intersubjective justification: an elitist minority project to which large swathes of humanity owe great gains. However, what we are currently witnessing is the end of the second Enlightenment era. This is due to the immense burdens of an emancipated way of life, along with current political and sociological pressures. These include a stunted capitalist understanding of freedom and migration movements, a failure to defend ethical universalism, and anti-racism that lacks an awareness of negative dialectics. This erosion is causing a return to humanity's standard authoritarian models, coupled with the technical and media potential of modernity. It is time to look back with gratitude and to reflect critically on what lies ahead.

This book mediates between postcolonial positions that criticize Marxist approaches (and Marx's writings) for their Eurocentrism, and defenders of Marx...

This book mediates between postcolonial positions that criticize Marxist approaches (and Marx's writings) for their Eurocentrism, and defenders of Marx who claim that this accusation is a myth. In a set of contributions to this volume, Kolja Lindner pleads for a differentiated assessment of the whole of Marx's work, including less well-known manuscripts, and a theoretical reconstruction of various elements that are the focus of postcolonial critique: ethnocentrism, Orientalism, false universalism and the oblivion of modernity's global entanglement. Against this background, two opportunities simultaneously arise: Marx's Eurocentrism can be deconstructed, and his growing awareness of global developments and cosmopolitan struggles established.

This collection of interview essays with 19 public intellectuals and scholars from around the world reflects on some of the...

This collection of interview essays with 19 public intellectuals and scholars from around the world reflects on some of the most pressing questions of our age: what is global inequality; what factors cause it; and how should we deal with it? Leading figures from the fields of history, sociology, economics, anthropology and postcolonial studies illuminate how their personal backgrounds, places of work, and hometowns have shaped their views on global inequality. We learn about the causes of global inequality, the historical factors that have made the world an unequal place, and the challenges with which humanity is confronted in the face of the widening gap between rich and poor. Bringing together voices from the Global North and South, this book helps us to think more broadly about inequality, and deepens our understanding of how this long-lasting phenomenon is, and has been, experienced across the globe.