Outside Verdun

About this book

A new translation of a forgotten masterpiece of German World War I literature based on the authors own first-hand experiences of combat The war an operation instigated by men still felt to him like a storm decreed by fate an unleashing of powerful elements unaccountable and beyond criticism. Arnold Zweigs novel was first published in 1933 and is based on his own experiences in the German army during World War I. Following the unlawful killing of his younger brother by his own superiors Lieutenant Kroysing swears revenge using his influence to arrange for his brothers unit normally safely behind the lines to be reassigned to the fortress at Douaument in the very heart of the battle for France. Bertin a lowly but educated Jewish sapper through whose eyes the story unfolds is the innocent man caught in the cross-fire. The book not only explores the heart-breaking tragedy of one individual trapped in a nightmare of industrialized warfare but also reveals the iniquities of German society in microcosm with all its injustice brutality anti-Semitism and incompetence. A brilliant translation captures all the subtleties cadences and detachment of Zweigs masterful prose.