All Quiet on the Western Front is a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, published in 1929, that takes place during World War I. The story revolves around a 20-year-old German boy named Paul Baumer, who is serving in the war. The novel is an antiwar narrative that vividly portrays the horrors and devastation of war, focusing on the extreme physical and mental trauma experienced by German soldiers during the war, as well as the detachment from civilian life felt by many upon returning home from the war