The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of The Guns of August
Book Review: Good literature, mediocre history
Summary: 3 Stars
First, I really enjoyed this book. I believe Tuchman did a masterful job of giving life to the people and events that led to WWI. This book is well worth reading, but only for what it is: half-history, half-literature.
This is not the place to start if you want to understand what led to WWI. The author does have a distinct anti-German bias that glosses over most of the complexities that influenced Germany's actions. Given when the book was written, this bias is understandable, but it does affect its historical value. Moreover, Serbia and the Hapsburgs are essentially footnotes in this book when in reality, they are essential for understanding the causes of the war. When you ignore Serbia and Austro-Hungary, well, all you're left with is Germany acting like a belligerent punk under the hand of the man-child Wilhelm II.
Also, Tuchman definitely prefers some individuals over others. For example, she gives Sir French pretty short-shrift in comparison to Lord Kitchener when in reality, there was more than enough incompetence to go around (not that I would have done any better than they).
I do whole-heartedly recommend this book, but only as a halfway step from history to fiction, perhaps sandwiched between A World Undone and All Quiet on the Western Front.
Book Review: Guns of August is a classic
Summary: 5 Stars
I had lost my copy of this book in an airport on a recent trip. I wanted another to finish reading and to keep for future reference. This book is a classic, along with The Proud Tower. I was glad to get it at a reduced price and via such prompt service.Book Review: Guns of August: compelling read
Summary: 5 Stars
Tuchman is "a writer of wit and grace" according to the New York Times. "She has a sardonic sense of humor and an original mind." I found her book about how WWI evolved, both compelling and repulsive. I gulped it in, as though inhaling halting breaths, engrossed in the horrific sadness of it all, putting the book down with a heavy and ponderous sigh, then picking it up again, needing to learn more. Tuchman's writing flows gracefully and she knows just how much detail to bring into this sweeping tale of a "tragedy of errors". Newsweek said it best, I think: "Tuchman is able to evoke both the enormous pattern of the tragedy and the minutiae which make it human" in what must surely be one of history's saddest moments.Book Review: History that reads like a novel
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great way to learn the origins of World War One and about its beggining. This is superior to books like it becauase it delves more deeply into the motives and personalities of the leaders. A must read for those wanting to understand WWI.Book Review: I love Barbara Tuchman's Books.
Summary: 5 Stars
I read this book a number of years ago and it still haunts me to this day. The images that Ms. Tuchman gives us all through the book linger in the mind long after the book is finished. Ms. Tuchman was a fine historian and she ranks with the very best historical writers. (I recommend Parkman, Prescott, and Costain as well).
If you are not much of a reader, or have been driven off by so many tedious books, please give the Guns Of August by Barbara Tuchman a try. It is a great and wonderful book.