The Road Back Audiobook By Erich Maria Remarque cover art

The Road Back

A Novel

Preview

Try for $0.00
Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.

The Road Back

By: Erich Maria Remarque
Narrated by: Graham Halstead
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $21.49

Buy for $21.49

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

The sequel to the masterpiece All Quiet on the Western Front, The Road Back is a classic novel of the slow return of peace to Europe in the years following World War I.

After four grueling years, the Great War has finally ended. Now Ernst and the few men left from his company cannot help wondering what will become of them. The town they departed as eager young men seems colder, their homes smaller, the reasons their comrades had to die even more inexplicable. For Ernst and his friends, the road back to peace is more treacherous than they ever imagined. Suffering food shortages, political unrest, and a broken heart, Ernst undergoes a crisis that teaches him what there is to live for - and what he has that no one can ever take away.

©1958 Erich Maria Remarque (P)2018 Recorded Books
Classics Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction War & Military War Military Heartfelt
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

"The world has a great writer in Erich Maria Remarque. He is a craftsman of unquestionably first rank, a man who can bend language to his will. Whether he writes of men or of inanimate nature, his touch is sensitive, firm, and sure." (The New York Times Book Review)

What listeners say about The Road Back

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    100
  • 4 Stars
    19
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    90
  • 4 Stars
    19
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    91
  • 4 Stars
    18
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Remarque’s embrace

What a heartfelt homage this is to the lost generation. And how warm was the delivery from the reader. Now this is how all those that have survived war and conflict feel, think, speak, and live.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful and powerful

A powerful account of a young man who went through the unspeakable horrors of war and the psychological aftermath affecting him and his comrades and their families. This should be required reading for teenagers so they remember it, should they ever be seduced to support war at any point in the future. Beautifully written.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great addition to the previous book

I really enjoy this author use of words and description of events.
This book isn't fully like the first one, but the aftermath of war and the road home again.
It gives a glimpse of PTSD, family life adjustment, and struggles for rights as a vet.

I really enjoyed the performance and overall story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Better than the first.

Great narration, superb story, heavy subject matter that is still relevant today. A must listen!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Successor to All Quiet on the Western Front

If you admired Remarque's masterpiece All Quiet on the Western Front, you'll be captivated by this as well. The author's perspective could only come from one who experienced the Great War himself. His language is simple, poetic, authentic, and a great tribute to all who suffered, both during the war and when they returned home.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Overlooked but fantastic in its own

It must have been hard to follow up something like "All Quiet on the Western Front", but Remarque pulls it off perfectly. This story is rife with heartbreak, depression, loss, aimlessness, ... It's humanity run adrift. A real emotional rollercoaster.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great listen. Great book

This book picks up where All Quiet leaves off. It's a sad and touching account of a group of young German men upon returning home after the war.

Same beautiful and stark language as AQOTWF, but not quite the epic that novel is.

Still a worthwhile listen. Leaves your with a sense of both hope and despair in humanity

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Stunning Follow Up

Going on, it's hard to wonder how anyone is going to be able to match the great Frank Muller's narration of "All Quiet on the Western Front." And to start, the narrator is a bit creaky. But once he gets going, he builds. Now comparing one to Muller isn't applicable, and not fair. But Graham Halstead makes this his own. It's the story of heartbreak following the Great War. Of lives shattered, trying to rebuild what was lost. The road back it is in every way. What a wonderful story and most pleasant surprise.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

underated

I don't know why more ppl don't know about this book compared to the previous one.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliantly Written Tale of Post War Tragedy

While the setting of the story was during very dark times in Germany at the end of WWI, the author's writing style was both poetic and compelling. As a veteran of the trenches. Remarque remarkably described and explained the total and permanent deterioration of the psyche of the story's characters. As a war veteran, his writing helped me to better understand the unfortunate rift that still exists between many veterans and non-veterans. Lastly, as a follow-up to his earlier and better known novel 'All Quiet on the Western Front', Remarque again presents compelling evidence as why there is absolutely nothing redeeming about war. Regrettably, mankind will likely never set the final nail into that coffin. In regard to narration, I initially felt that Graham Halstead's voice and reading style were inappropriate for this particular novel. But his clear annunciation and reading pace quickly grew on me and contributed greatly to the impact the writer hoped to convey.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!