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Eric Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front is a key work of twentieth-century antiwar literature. Told from the perspective of a German soldier fighting in World War I, Remarque’s 1929 novel provides a harrowing depiction of war that complements the vision offered by Owen’s poem. Taken together, these works demonstrate that soldiers on both sides of the war suffered tremendously.

Dalton Trumbo, Johnny Got His Gun

Johnny Got His Gun represents another important touchstone of twentieth-century antiwar literature. Like “Dulce Et Decorum Est,” Trumbo’s 1939 novel emphasizes the horrors of World War I, focusing on a young American soldier who returns home completely disabled. Johnny Got His Gun took on a new life in 1971, when, at the height of the Vietnam War, Trumbo adapted his novel to film to comment on the horrors of yet another war.

Joseph Heller, Catch-22

Heller’s tragicomic novel from 1961 concerns the thwarted attempts of a young pilot to escape the violence of World War II. Though written about a later conflict, Catch-22 remains an important companion piece for Owen’s poem for the way it critiques the absurd logic that prolongs the senseless violence of war.

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