Katharina Rout's edition of All Quiet on the Western Front

A few months ago we at Broadview Press published Katharina Rout's extraordinary edition of Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front--a new translation that's been described as "informed, gritty, and evocative" and as "far more accessible" than earlier translations. Rout's translation seems to me to be far better not only than the decades-old competitors but also than the one other new translation--and the Rout edition includes a superb introduction and over 100 pages of fascinating historical documents. I put the case for the Rout edition forward early this year in a letter to The Atlantic responding to their review of a competitor--a review that did not mention the new Broadview edition.

In his article on Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front (“The Warrior’s Anti-War Novel”), George Packer compares the new Kurt Beals translation from Liveright with the “frequently stilted and labored” A.H. Wheen translation from 1929, using a passage from just after the Kaiser has inspected the troops as an example. He gives the Wheen first:

Tjaden is quite fascinated. His otherwise prosy fancy is blowing bubbles. “But look,” he announces, “I simply can’t believe that an emperor has to go to the latrine the same as I have.”

Here is Beals’ translation:

Tjaden is completely fascinated. His mind isn’t usually so lively, but now it’s bubbling over. “Look here,” he announces, “I just can’t fathom that a kaiser has to go to the latrine just like I do.”

Packer is on solid ground in rating Beals’ translation over that of Wheen. But he may not have known when he was writing the article that there is another brand-new translation of Remarque’s great novel; Katharina Rout’s translation was published in a Broadview Press edition 9 October 2024 in Canada, and 1 January 2025 in the United States—the day on which the German original entered the public domain in America. Rout’s (already widely praised) translation aims to be “blunter and more pared down” as well as more accurate than earlier translations. Here is how she renders the same passage—using just 30 words, compared to Beals’ 36 and Wheen’s 33:

But Tjaden remains enthralled. His usually barren imagination is getting all worked up. “Look,” he announces, “I really can’t believe that the Kaiser must use the latrine just like me.”

Rout includes in her edition over 100 pages of historical background materials—among them a number of documents that have never before been available in English.

Our marketing team at Broadview has had a frustrating time getting the word out to the general Trade market about Rout's great new edition. The Atlantic was not the only major publication to have been fully informed about the book, only to ignore it in a review; a reviewer for the Wall Street Journal asked for a review copy after he'd been informed of the publication of the Rout translation--and then wrote a review of the competitor without ever mentioning the existence of the Rout translation. And Amazon, which is almost always bad at listing new editions of classic works correctly, has in this case been even worse than usual. At first Amazon didn't list the edition at all, and then, after endless efforts by our marketing team, they listed only the kindle edition--https://www.amazon.com/All-Quiet-Western-Front-Broadview-ebook/dp/B0DM9R7LDC. If you'd like a copy of the book, I'd highly recomend you order through your local bookstore--or direct from Broadview (https://broadviewpress.com/product/all-quiet-on-the-western-front/#tab-description). Broadview has published over 1,000 books in its 40 years; I don't think there's any question that this is one of the best--as well as one of the most important.