War as an Inner Experience (german Krieg als inneres Erlebnis) is the second book of Ernst Jünger.

He published his first book, In Storms of Steel (In Stahlgewittern), in 1920 at the age of 25. The recipient of the Pour le Merite, Germany's highest award for bravery in the field, Jünger was revered by his generation for his celebration of the 'purifying' experience of war. The 'heroic nihilism' of his early work with its tendency to glorify violence, which originated in his reading of Nietzsche, was further articulated in his second book, War as an Inner Experience, published in 1922.
In it, the author treats his experiences from the First World War in an abstract and reflective form. Before that, he had already worked through them in his diary In Stahlgewittern.

In 14 chapters, the essay deals with various aspects of the war under headings such as "Blood", "Horror", "The Trench", "Landsknechts" and others, as it happened especially in the First World War with its trench warfare and material battles.

The style alternates between deliberately sober descriptions and, on the other hand, expressionistic means of expression. Despite the claim to be a systematic investigation, the essay is interspersed with anecdotal interludes about wartime experiences.

For me, it is one of the best books (if not the best) from Jünger.
It has around 700 pages and is a must read.