The Storm of Steel is about an infantry man named Ernst Junger during the World War I. The main theme of this book is a personal narrative from his war experiences. Most of the book covers the trench warfare that his a part of, either as a soldier or as a Lieutenant. Junger clearly defines what war in the trenches was like with vast descriptions of how the soldier's life was. The many hardships they endured whether it is waiting for the food rations, constant bombardment of enemy firepower and shrapnel, and even the elemental natures of the weather and land. .
The beginning of the book Junger tells about his early experiences as an infantry man. While the war is far more than what he ever expected he soon adapts. After enduring life in the trenches and then training to be an officer Junger becomes a Lieutenant. It is after this that the book takes on a cocky sense with the author basically bragging more and more about his feats and how he lead his men during battle. During his soldier status he was basically your normal soldier scared of what was going on, not sure on how to do things and even way there was a war. After obtaining his officer status the mentality changes and he is pretty much changed his tune. Although he was hit several times with by bullets or shrapnel he made it seem like it was not bad or that nothing was going to keep him down. While he was taken to the infirmary he would return to duty 14 days later. The manner in which he described himself was a great leader who's all his men respected and looked up to for he was an officer and that was their duty. .
The book did a couple things that really impressed me. The first thing that caught my attention was the horrified conditions they went through. Personally, I never thought about some of the things that they had to do but it was clearly explained. The conditions of the trenches with meager food, and the shells exploding with shrapnel killing or injuring several of the men took me by surprise that battle were that intense.