The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Guns of August
Book Review: Brilliant and Beautiful Literary Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
In the opening scene of Barbara Tuchman's "The Guns of August," the language and imagery are as opulent and as stirring as the funeral of England's Edward VII. In Tuchman's rendering, that particular setting of a sun not only brought together the leaders of the world, but with them the values and norms, traditions and legacies of the Old World.
"So gorgeous was the spectacle on the May morning of 1910 when nine kings rode in the funeral of Edward VII of England that the crowd, waiting in hushed and black-clad awe, could not keep bask gasps of admiration," she writes. "In scarlet and blue and green and purple, three by three the sovereigns rode through the palace gates, with plumed helmets, gold braid, crimson sashes, and jeweled orders flashing in the sun."
Compare these two beautiful and brilliant opening sentences with the book's final paragraph:
"After the Marne the war grew and spread until it drew in the nations of both hemispheres and entangled them in a pattern of world conflict no peace treaty could dissolve," Tuchman writes. "The Battle of the Marne was one of the decisive battles of the world not because it determined that Germany would ultimately lose or the Allies ultimately win the war but because it determined that the war would go on. There was no looking back, Joffre told the soldiers on the eve. Afterward there was no turning back. The nations were caught in a trap, a trap made during the first thirty days out of battles that failed to be decisive, a trap from which there was, and has been, no exit."
Gone is the triumphant tone, and what's left is resignation and disillusionment: the First War had destroyed the customs and traditions, norms and values of the Old World, and ever since humanity has been adrift in a brutal and murderous search for a New World. Gone are the parade and the pageantry, and all that remains now is a cold and hard reality.
In the best literary tradition Tuchman writes with conviction and mourning, bitterness and nostalgia, satire and tragedy. With sharp stirring wit, she condemns the generals who thought themselves Gods, and who too readily sacrificed the lives of their soldiers to save their individual honor. In a world where ego dominated policy and élan determined strategy, cruel and murderous stupidity was the only victor. There were the Germans who fought with efficiency and perversity: they could fanatically maintain their precise timetable and brilliantly organize the chaotic logistics of war, but it was their perverse devotion to their timetable that forced their first blunder, (the invasion of Belgium) a risk they thought they had to take in order to win the war but which ultimately determined that they would lose the war by bringing in Britain and offending the world. There were the French whose military code dictated that they fight stupidly and bravely. The Russians were hopelessly incompetent, and the British hopelessly cynical.
This is all established and well-known, and what makes this book a classic is Tuchman's religious devotion to detail and her spiritual obsession with the written word. We can easily imagine how she transported herself back to the past, and slowly came to smell, touch, see, and hear the place, the time, and the people. We can easily see how, while writing the book, she would, in her long silent walks, in her sleep, and even among the chatter of her dinner companions, she would struggle with words, letting them form and gestate in her in a torturous tumultuous tormenting process before becoming refined and solid.
"The Guns of August" is a literary masterpiece.
Book Review: Classic for a Reason
Summary: 5 Stars
There is absolutely a reason for this book to be regarded as a classic. Actually, there are lots of reasons. Tuchman's writing is informative, yet intimate. She tells you what you need to know to understand the topic at hand then goes on to supply more information that you didn't need but adds to your appreciation. All this without the book ever bogging down, unlike the war. Possibly, a big part of this is the topic she chose to cover from WWI, the first month. That was when armies marched, counter-marched and fought instead of slogging through mud for years.
Tuchman covers the cuases for war in ways as good as any I've read. It's a hard topic, but she addresses it very well. Every topic in the book is covered well.
This book is a must read for anyone interested in the Great War. It's also a must read to get some understanding of how the folly of man makes war more horrofic, if that's possible. It's just a good read if you're looking for something for the beach.
Book Review: Do Not Buy This Edition
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a 5 star book squeezed into a tiny, tiny paperback. Do NOT buy this edition... the print is impossibly small...I returned it immediately.
Buy a trade size edition. I couldn't see one on amazon.com and went to Border's and found it immediately.
Book Review: Dull Portrait of WWI
Summary: 1 Stars
This book is dull & drags. The author creates no dramatic tension or excitement. Its a few hundred pages of mainly dreary inconsequential facts with an occasional page or two of something you actually want to know.Book Review: Elegant History Recounting
Summary: 5 Stars
'The Guns of August" is a perfect example that history is about people . It recounts how the motives,policies,and personal beliefs and animosities of people precipitated the war. It is elegantly written and makes compelling reading.