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)

Amazing

Amazingly detail in that the book resurrects the fallen soldiers, the Spirit and intensity of August 1914. Both my knowledge and my appreciation what I do not know both grew with listening. The Generals, red pants, King Albert, and the vivid battle scenes are indelible. Simply the best WW1 historical narrative!

Hard to get through.

This was really boring. Did not hold my attention at all, even for a total history nerd like myself.

Great Work but Too Long

The writing is solid and this is an important work, but it's far too long for popular history. This is almost academic reading, and I was bored about a third of the way through. If you want the definitive history on the start of World War I, this is it. 3.5 stars.

History is repeating again today

Excellent narrative of the first month of WWI - many similarities being played in the Russia/Ukraine War. No war is good & WWI was an exceptionally brutal one. I will be purchasing the book and referencing maps to better grasp the strategy behind this war.

Good book but terribly tough listen

This is a great detail of the first part of the war. But this an incredibly difficult listen if you really want to understand the what and where. There are so many names, flanks, towns, and fronts, I kept wishing I had a map in front of me and an org chart of commands. Really could have studied maps in detail while listening and enjoyed it much more.

An excellent, moving summary

Any additional comments?

The Guns of August does an excellent job of digging into not only the events of the First World War, but the train of events that led up to them. Commanders' decisions and perceptions, odd turns of fate, miscommunications, and chance encounters all spiral together into familiar battles.The author manages to create tension and anticipation of events whose outcomes are already known.

Very good historical account. Very vivid

Masterful work that really makes it come alive and gives you the worts and all

A must

Loved it! I will listen it again. Detail rich gives a profound analysis of the period preceding the declaration of war and shows how a war meant to be short ended up being fought for 4 years. I warmly recommend it to everyone interested in the period. I'm not sure that the lessons of the Great War were learnt, but we always must hope for the better.

Excellent rendition but....

I really enjoyed this audio rendition of "Guns of August" my only complaint is that the narrator is very monotonous, and there were times throughout the reading, that I was finding it tough to pay attention due to slight boredom. Good book though overall.

Fantastically told

A well narrated, detailed and extravagant tale of the opening of WWII, the Guns of August reminds us all of the pettiness of war and how diplomacy is always better than the battlefield.