This just arrived today.  The reviews I read before buying says you cannot remove back.  I asked the customer serv rep if it required assembly and she was honest enough to say she did not know but it didn't look like it did.  That is also what I thought.  Wrong! you have to put the back and armrests on.  It does require assembly.  Have not done it yet and don't know how smoothly this will go.  The delivery process was very dependable and they called ahead to give me a 30 min heads up but you have to pay for shipping to get this.