Erich Maria Remarque (1898-1970) can safely be called a chronicler of German history of the first half of the twentieth century. Starting with the book that brought him worldwide fame, he, like Emile Zola, painted in his novels a grandiose picture of the morals of his time - that era not far removed from us, which turned out to be marked by two world wars, terror, violence, the expulsion of people from their homes places, lies and contempt for such seemingly unchangeable human values as love and friendship. In the stormy atmosphere of those years, Remarque’s personal life took shape and proceeded - with his admiration for female beauty, with his craving for comfort and paintings by ancient masters, with his addiction to alcohol. The famous historian and publicist Wilhelm von Sternburg (b. 1939) decided to act as a pioneer and tell us about a writer whose books were published in millions of copies and were repeatedly filmed, but gave only a vague idea of \u200b\u200bhis own life. And she was, as it turns out as you read this biography, contradictory: bright and painful, purposeful and chaotic, idle and full of hard work. Sternburg managed to combine essays on the historical situation, reflections on novels, excerpts from letters and diaries, as well as his own assessments of views and Remarque’s actions into such a biography, when getting acquainted with which there is an irresistible desire to read Remarque himself - to read his novels, stories, plays, poems, essays, interviews, letters, diaries. And at the same time feel the bitterness of loneliness, the warmth of the heart and the invincibility of the human spirit.