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Summary: A Wonderful Look At A Moment in 20th Century History
Review: Europe in the late summer of 1914 was more than a powderkeg poised to go off; it was prewired and preset demolition awaiting the excuse of a match. According to Barbara Tuchman in this insightful and descriptive period piece of history, each of the potentates involved in the coming world war had a battle plan, a series of objectives, and a relatively good sense of what the other powers would do in the conduct of hostilities. Yet each disregarded the potential contingencies that might arise from the efforts of opposing forces, and descended pell-mell in the unbelievable madness of total war based on a combination of factors ranging from arrogance, overestimation of capability, personal animosities, ambition, lack of imagination of what could happen as a result, and of course, sheer ignorance. Tuchman's magic in employing the written word to advantage shines here, as her narrative weaves together the elements of a world in transition, empires ruled by Kings, Queens and Kaisers living in the past, out of touch with what advances in technology and tactics meant, and not recognizing that these revolutionary changes in technology, demography, and battle techniques would plunge the world into a nightmare conflict that none of them could foresee, contain, or manage, once it started. In many ways the first world war marks the true demarcation point between the old European world of tradition, chivalry, and empires, on the one hand, and the frightening new world of tanks, machine guns and mass exterminations. Prepared and propelled by visions of glorious conquest in a battlefield characterized by Kipling and "the charge of the light brigade", what they got in its place was the horrifying nightmare war of extermination in trench warfare, infantry slaughtered anonymously by artillary, tanks and rapid fire weapons the troops had no effective tactics to protect against. So much for the old glory. Yet all that lay ahead, in the weeks, months and years of bloody battle, of the excruciatingly costly struggle for new territory turned into a useless bloodbath for mere feet and yards. Here we are dipped deep into the boiling cauldron of people steeped in the mystique of the past, trying to win glory and fortune through warfare, and never understanding that the very attempt itself would result in the ruin of everything they knew and treasured, for the nature of the protracted conflict did indeed change everything, and Tuchman winds her way through the book with dazzling description and highly readable prose. This is a wonderful and memorable book, typical of Tuchman's engaging and often humourous writing style, detailing as it does the ways in which old and outdated perspectives try ruinously to force themselves and their designs into an abrasive future, at the expense of everything traditional, local, and familiar. It is a valuable snapshot of a moment suspended in time, lovingly restored, taken of a world in violent transition at that very moment as we first stepped off the threshold of the past into the bloody abyss of the 20th century.
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Summary: Not your standard history of the First World War
Review: Barbara Tuchman writes about history like no other writer I know. She is (or was) apparently just as happy as I am about the fact that she is not a "real" historian. Of course the niceties of that argument may be fought about for hours. But like Farley Mowat and T.C. Lethbridge, among others, Tuchman is an attacking, uninhibited sort of individual who doesn't care a fig for what a scholarly establishment may or may not think about a particular subject (and like Mowat and Lethbridge, she gets away with it). This is a very good beginning to a work about history which has to fall into line with ten thousand others on the same subject (there may have been more books written about the American Civil War, but I doubt it). To tell history in story form, and still have it remain non-fiction, is an art. What to include? What to leave out? Why focus on this aspect, when so many others are clamouring for our attention? Tuchman answers these and many other questions even as she writes, by creating a panorama for us, so that we may dwell on an individual aspect for a time, but not lose sight of the whole. With this kind of confidence around, brought to bear by the sheer mastery of the prose as well as understanding of the subject, writer and reader get on very well together. Another Tuchman touch is to maintain authorial integrity without annoying the hell out of us at the same time. Even when she is commenting in no uncertain terms about a particular event, we can accept it as reasoned and therefore coherent, rather than simply intrusive or even sarcastic. She usually gets a laugh out of us - we both know she's right - and goodness knows there is so much matter available, so much silliness going on. It's a book that is both easy to read, and immensely pleasurable (even though it includes a grimness at times, that one might expect), and it is difficult to see how you could come away from it without a much better idea of why the guns of August spoke.
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Summary: A precious jewel of history writing
Review: The Guns of August didn't earn a Pullitzer for nothing, it is a great literary account of the facts of the beginning of WW1, the way in which we're approached to the persons, the events, the consequences is simply superb. If you love history then you mustn't miss this book.
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Summary: Excellent introduction to WWI
Review: World War I seems to be a bit of a forgotten war. The details of the conflict have become lost in the more recent and greater impact of the sequel. WWI really begins really more of a 19th century war. Personal feelings plays just as much a factor in policymaking than national self-interest. In this Tuchman's book shines. The complexities of the first decade of the 20th century are clearly described and easy to follow. The first part of the book deals with the "set-up." Here she describes how it is that Europe found itself on the brink of war in the summer of 1914 after several near misses in the years before. This is easily the best part of this book. Tuchman uses correspondences of the players to portray their states of mind at the time. These passages are the most enlightening. The second part of the book concerning the warplans. Here the individual strategies of the major players are described, as are the processes through which they were formulated. Again, personality, both personal and national, is a major contributing factor in these formulations. The last part concerns the actual battles that occurred in August of 1914. Here the book is less clear. There is simply too much going on in too many places to keep everything straight. This becomes more complicated when, for example, you encounter a Russian general with a German name, and a German general with a French name, and an English general named French. It is not the fault of the author, but here the book becomes a little bogged down in detail. Overall, the overview of the prewar period is brilliant, but the battles are a little confusing. Still, this book is wonderful as an introduction to WWI. It is a great place to start to learn the environment and the players of the war.
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Summary: Historical Irony
Review: "Early in his administration, President Kennedy asked his cabinet officials and members of the National Security Council to read Barbara Tuchman's book, "The Guns of August". He said it graphically portrayed how Europe's leaders had bungled into the debacle of WWI. And he emphasized: "I don't ever want to be put in that position". Kennedy told us after we had done our reading, "We are not going to bungle into war.... ". "In Retrospect" by Defense Sec. Robert S. McNamara 1961-1967 as reported in Newsweek 4/17/95
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Summary: Excellent - one of the best on WW1
Review: This is one of the best books available on WW1 in terms of readability
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Summary: Written with a purpose during the Cold War
Review: Halfway through this very interesting account of how WWI started, I checked the publication date. 1962. As a veteran of the Cold War, it dawned on me that Ms. Tuchman's purpose in writing this book was a fear that the Great Powers of 1962, USSR and USA, would stumble upon a catalyst like the Austrian archduke's assassination in 1914, and thus start a major war that could threaten human existence with employment of nuclear weapons. Why else would she confine herself to the early stages of the war? To send this message: "Don't let this happen again." One wonders if the current wags at the State Department read too much into this book when stumbling all over themselves to "prevent WWIII" by intervening in Bosnia. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. When one considers the continual sales made by Western armaments companies providing more and better tools to governments the world over, one wonders if the stage is being set, perhaps in India and Pakistan, for a similar bloodletting. For those who have not studied the contemporary history, the 1980-1988 war between Iran and Iraq bore an eerie resemblance to the Western Front of 1915-1918. "It" can happen again, on a larger or smaller scale. Ms Tuchman's antipathy for Germans and avid Francophilia cannot overshadow her gift for telling a very complex story gracefully. I have read some of her other works and find them all engaging and informative. Serious military historians sometimes refer to Tuchman, derisively, as a "pop" historian. If her style induces more of the public to read about important political and military history, we need more pop historians. The history you do not read can teach you nothing. Read this one soon, it's good.
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Summary: Am I missing something?
Review: Now, I must admit that I'm not a hard-core history buff. I'm usually knee-deep in novels or biographies. So, when I read all the reviews about how this book flowed like a novel...or that readers just couldn't put the book down, I thought it would be perfect. My knowledge of WWI was limited to everything that I hadn't forgotten from High School History classes (which wasn't much), and I was eager fill this gap in my knowledge-base. Well... I have to warn potential readers that this book definitely doesn't flow with excitement. I fear that many of these reviews are from readers that are simply proud of the fact that they have read an "intellectual" book. If any readers have any other suggestions on a history of WWI, I would be grateful. Perhaps a narrative?
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Summary: For anyone who is passionate about history
Review: I picked out "The Guns of August" because I felt I needed to learn more about our first world war. As soon as I picked it up to start I never stopped reading until the last page. Barbara W. Tuchman made a non-fiction book feel like a thrilling novel. I never thought I would really enjoy a non-fiction read until I found "The Guns of August. I can't wait to read another of her riveting books.
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Summary: Fascinating reading !!!
Review: The first month of WW I is vividly recreated here, and explains why the great nations put themselves in a mortal stalemate that was to last four years. This book is profoundly serious and informative, and gives the reader a clear picture of what happened in those dread times. It describes the armies of all nations at war, their preparation, their morale (or lack of) and the stupid proud of the leaders. INcridible.
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