Richert's reflections on his dire plight in the trenches, taken together with what we learn about his actions, amount to a deeply felt statement of humanistic beliefs; beliefs which stood the test of his wartime experiences. Such beliefs made him highly critical of certain widely held ideas about war. Ideas which his observations implied to be myths. These myths, we know, must have been a necessary kind of remedial solace to the great majority of Richert's generation both during and after the war: Heroism in the name of Kaiser und Vaterland and the supposed inferiority of the enemy.

Richert's writing successfully conveys the depth of his convictions to the reader. It is reasonable to suppose that he felt compelled to remember and write down what he had experienced. These two points give these war memoirs their particular character. Everything he experienced was of immense importance to him. His account unfolds in a strictly ordered sequence of events: Incidents in his day-to-day life; actions attached to the role he was forced to play in the military; his reflections on both of these. Although written in the Winter of 1918, the detailed time references in the text give his account the structure of a carefully kept diary. Dominik Richert's experiences in the war ended with his desertion after almost four years of active service in the trenches. On the night of July 23, 1918, he crossed over the French lines. For this he was sentenced to death in his absence by court-martial. He died at the age of 84 in 1977.
As can be seen from the large number of reviews which the book has recieved, it has proved itself of interest to both social and military historians as well as to the general reader.The following reviews of Beste Gelegenheit zu Sterben may be cited as examples.

- Times Literay Supplement, 1.7.89 Fear in the 2'renches, Roger 
   Woods.

- Die Zeit, 27.10.89 Ein Denkmal für Deserteure, Volker Ullrich.

- Franfurter Rundschau 3.3.90. Ac.kerer, Alsacien, Deerteur,
   Schriftsteller Wolfram Wette.

- War and Literature/Kriea und Li.eteratur Vol.4 I 1990, Review,
   Günter Hartung.
- Sozialwissenschaftliche Informationen 2.90 Die lange
   Vorgeschichte einer Desei-tion. Wolfram Wette

- Zeitschrift für Sozialctischichte des 20. und 21 Jahunderts 1.90
   Review, Karl Holl
- Dernieres Nouvelles D'Alsace, 24.10.89 Les carnets de guerre du
  fantassin IZichert, Daniel Walther