The Road Back
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 First edition cover | |
| Author | Erich Maria Remarque |
|---|---|
| Original title | Der Weg zurück |
| Translator | Arthur Wesley Wheen |
| Country | Germany |
| Language | German |
| Genre | War novel |
| Publisher | Propyläen Verlag (German) Little, Brown & Co (English) |
Publication date | April 1931 |
Published in English | May 1931 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| OCLC | 909194 |
The Road Back (German: Der Weg zurück) is a novel by German author Erich Maria Remarque, commonly regarded as a sequel to his 1929 novel All Quiet on the Western Front. It was first serialized in the German newspaper Vossische Zeitung between December 1930 and January 1931, and published in book form in April 1931.
Although the book follows different characters from those in All Quiet on the Western Front, it can be assumed that they were in the same company, as the characters recall other characters from the earlier novel. Tjaden is the only member of the 2nd Company to feature prominently in both books.
Set a few weeks after the end of All Quiet on the Western Front, the novel details the experience of young men in Germany who have returned from the trenches of World War I and are trying to integrate back into civilian life. Its most salient feature is the main characters' pessimism about contemporary society which, they feel, is morally bankrupt because it has allegedly caused the war and apparently does not wish to reform itself.
The book was banned during Nazi rule.
Film, TV, and theatrical adaptations[]
- 1937, The Road Back - motion picture directed by James Whale and starring among others, Noah Beery, Jr. and Richard Cromwell.
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- 1931 German novels
- Novels by Erich Maria Remarque
- Novels set during World War I
- Novels first published in serial form
- Works originally published in Vossische Zeitung
- Novels set in Germany
- Anti-war novels
- Sequel novels
- German novels adapted into films
- All Quiet on the Western Front
- 1930s historical novel stubs
- World War I novel stubs