The Guns of August

By: Barbara W. Tuchman

Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon

Length: 19 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

In this Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, historian Barbara Tuchman brings to life the people and events that led up to World War I. This was the last gasp of the Gilded Age, of Kings and Kaisers and Czars, of pointed or plumed hats, colored uniforms, and all the pomp and romance that went along with war. How quickly it all changed...and how horrible it became.

Tuchman masterfully portrays this transition from 19th to 20th Century, focusing on the turning point in the year 1914: the month leading up to the war and the first month of the war. With fine attention to detail, she reveals how and why the war started, and why it could have been stopped but wasn't, managing to make the story utterly suspenseful even when we already know the outcome.

©1990 Dr. Lester Tuchman (P)2005 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"More dramatic than fiction...a magnificent narrative - beautifully organized, elegantly phrased, skillfully paced...The product of painstaking and sophisticated research." (Chicago Tribune)

Fascinating Account

The unbelievable amount of research that must have gone into this book is amazing. Little anecdotes and quotes create something that reads more like a novel. Hugely informative and entertaining.

excellent narration

wanda mccaddon was amazing. her narration turned what could have been a clinical read into a story. this very long book was beautifully written like a history textbook but the delivery of the narrator kept it from feeling like a history lesson and read like a story.

Maybe the best book written about WW1

What a great read/listen this is. First things first, I’ve seen negative reviews of the narrator and I cannot imagine how that is possible. Yes, the author is American and narrator is English but as this is about a war in Europe, it is totally appropriate. More importantly her performance is almost perfect, she captures the sarcasm and absurdity effortlessly and therefore really adds to an understanding of the material.

As for the work itself, some reviewers have mentioned getting lost without maps or that too many “characters” are covered...I will agree that this is not a book to start with if you are curious about The Great War. It is more of a deep dive intended for an audience familiar with the people and places that led to the outbreak of the war and the all important first month of the conflict. If you are familiar with WW1 history, I could not recommend this book more, a truly outstanding history.

For those new to the subject or looking for a broader coverage of all the important moments, I highly suggest A World Undone, also available on Audible. It is more of a macro history and at the end of every chapter is a mini chapter or short biography that describes in decent detail, important events/people of the war. The introduction there hopefully will lead you back here as this is arguably the best book written about The Great War.

fantastic

this book took a lot or rewinding to get through with understanding but definitely worth the time.

Tough to follow without maps

What did you love best about The Guns of August?

I've read a few of Tuchman's decades ago. My favorite was Stillwell and the American Experience in China. Never tried Guns before and it's probably a swell book if you're reading a book.

If you're taking a long drive and trying to keep a mental map of Europe and various battle fronts and river systems in place, it's a little tricky. As a paper book, I'm sure it's swell. As an audio book for a quiet evening with a good glass of something and plenty of maps spread out it's probably a great deal of fun as well. It just didn't work for my limited purpose which is staying amused as I drive 90 miles to and from work.

spellbinding history

excellent presentation of fascinating material. It just proves that we were doomed to repeat ourselves.

Wonderful

Great book incredibly interesting history. Beautifully read. A bit of skipping between sentences for some reason.

Great book

Loved this book, might have even given me my idea for my senior History paper.

WW1 was epic

It's hard to believe that everything covered in this book happened during the first month of Word War I. An amazing job as done on such an epic historical event.

The war within the war: over by Christmas

This is the story of the events running up to the colossal mobile battle that set the stage for the dissolution of Old Europe in the trench warfare of 1915-1917 and paved the way for the horrors of the twentieth century. It was an old fashioned campaign fought with new weapons: heavy artillery and the machine gun, with infantry and horses along for the ride. The narration is effective and urgent, though at times mannered where French and German accents are assumed. You can feel the old world giving way to the new under the remorseless pressure of events and the foolish optimism of the leaders of Edwardian Europe. The description of the events surrounding strategic and command decisions in the first weeks of the war is masterly. The course of events was dictated by the whims of the Kaiser, the delusions of the French military staff, Imperial Russian honor and stupidity, British blundering that worked out in the end (at the cost of virtually the whole army), and railway timetables.

I decided that the author's academic, though ironic, detachment from the horrific behavior of the Germans in Belgium in the first days of the war was the best way of approaching the topic since it left the reader to decide for himself what reaction was justified at the time. The reaction of the British was perhaps the most natural and explains much about the subsequent course of the war. We can ponder whether the world has advanced or retreated since 1914, when the Germans felt no need to dress up the deliberate murder and dispossession of civilians as anything other than a legitimate military tactic, intended to shorten the war. The 'Huns' were brutal, but they were honest.