Masterly storytelling

Authentic, inspiring, well-characterised and, finally, moving

There are some books that should be read by every generation... Remarque's story of German trench soldiers of the 1914-18 war gains even more authority in the context of the loss of life in wars that still rage

Brian Murdoch's new English translation shows that Remarque's evocation of the horrors of modern warfare has lost none of its force

The book conquers without persuading, it shakes you without exaggerating, a perfect work of art and at the same time truth that cannot by doubted

This harrowing narrative is unexpectedly beautiful, more pensive than angry

Its extraordinary appeal may stem from Remarque’s success in universalising the soldiers’ experience — that the war was the same for all who fought

Remarque’s spare description of the pointless reality of war still chills and is what made the book so powerful – and dangerous – on its publication 90 years ago... Remains a necessary, shattering read

The power to move people by words, to arouse their sensibilities as well as their minds, was Erich Maria Remarque's to an extraordinary degree

'Brian Murdoch's new English translation...shows that Remarque's evocation of the horrors of modern warfare has lost none of its force'

Brilliant and hugely ambitious ... the kind of book that could be life-changing

Absorbing and searing

A major achievement

Deserves a place on the shelf with The Diary of Anne Frank - set to become a classic

Zusak makes his ostensibly gloomy subject bearable in the same way Kurt Vonnegut did in Slaughterhouse 5, with grim, darkly consoling humour

Zusak's playfulness with language leavens the horror and makes the theme more resonant - words can save your life ...It's a measure of how sucessfully Zusak has humanized these characters that even though we know they are doomed, it's no less devastating when Death finally reaches them

One of the most highly anticipated young-adult books in years

'Elegant, philosophical and moving. A work to read slowly and savour. Beautiful and important

Both gripping and touching, a work that kept me up late into the night feverishly reading the last 300 pages

Zusak's novel is a highwire act of inventiveness and emotional suppleness

A triumph of control ...one of the most unusual and compelling of recent Australian novels

A brilliant, quirky tale ...a superb book you will be recommending to everyone you meet

A literary gem

...the much talked about The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak...should soon have the UK under its spell.

It wouldn't surprise us if this became a great classic in years to come.

...this is a novel to touch even the coldest of hearts - definitely 2007's first must-read book.

A compelling tale from the start...definitely 2007's first must-read book.

A moving story from the German perspective of everyday civilian hardship and surivival under the Third Reich. It celebrates the power of words and love, in the face of unutterable suffering

Death turns out to be a tender narrator in Zusak's 'The Book Thief' [...] This novel movingly depicts the Himmel Street community, and its orphaned book thief, Liesel Meminger

Exceptionally good ... full of gruelling episodes... and an ending that will almost certainly move you to tears.