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)

great and timeless

terrific read (listen). the narrative offer great insight into the first calamity of the 20th century whose after shocks are still being felt today.

Really good

I really enjoyed this book, but I think it is important to note that Tuchman focuses only on the outbreak of WWI...so do not expect a comprehensive history of the war. Nevertheless, she does a wonderful job painting the pictures of the characters and the detail of the war planning and execution is outstanding. Her detail can be a little much at times, but it is worth it overall. I would recommend this for anyone who wants a deep look at the outbreak of the war and the planning that lead to it. The narration is really good.

Tremendous

One of the best non-fiction works I’ve ever experienced. Tuchman narrates a complicated period with eloquence and deftness. Highly recommended.

horribly narrated

it seems the narrator is better suited portraying characters in children's books....too many voice impersonations

Understanding the Great War

Ms. Tuchman wrote this for the 50th anniversary of the Great War. So she had living witnesses she could call on for details.
Ms. Tuchman clearly unveils the multitude of causes of this complex and so very destructive war. While Germany had to shoulder the blame in the Treaty of Versailles, this book show that the it took many people and many nations to start the First Would War, and the causes run much deeper than what has ever been talked about.

A hollow yet comprehensive analysis

This is the view from 30,000 feet above. Strategies and the game of “battleship.” A history “lesson.”
It’s not bad, it’s excellent at its objective and the research undertaken to write this book was evidently tedious and complete, but I prefer my history lessons in the trenches and so “All Quiet on the Western Front” continues to be my “go to” when it comes to the history of WWI.

Amazing

This is the best book I have ever read about WWI. the insights into the actions, personalities, politics, attitudes of the time, and the quagmire looming ahead of the nations involved is so well captured.

LEM

Excellent chronology of terrible greed and horrible mistakes. Author is wonderful historian capturing the horrors of this war.

Limited and dated

I was very disappointed by this book. I expected a book about the start of WW1, but this book only covers the British perspective and only those parts of other nations history that are absolutely vital for the British narrative to make sense. If this book is the only book about WW1 you ever read you might not even know there ever was a polity called the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This book is only interested in the Western Front and neglects every other front, excluding the battle at Tannenberg, which is only included due to its impact on the Western Front. The voyage of Goeben and Breslau is included due to their relevance to the British and the author's personal interest.

The best value in this book is in presenting a portrait of the mental landscape that committed suicide in 1914. There may be some value in the portrayal of the key individuals, but I am unqualified to offer an opinion about the accuracy of their portrayal.

The book clearly suffers from the time at which it was written, since the concept of a human being who is also German seems like an oxymoron to the author. The book suggests an outcome other than stalemate was possible in France in 1914, which seems improbable to me. This is probably due to the book predating the popular appreciation of logistics as an important factor in the outcomes of wars.

Get this book if you are interested in the people, sentiments and world view that produced the First World War. Read some other book first, if you are looking for information about what happened in August 1914.

Truly a Blockbuster of the WWI beginning

The performance by Wanda McCaddon is excellent for the most part - I don’t like ‘false accents’ when they are unnecessary - but she is a spot-on enunciator of words, and the clarity is excellent. Most of all, even after all the years of knowing how the war got started, it is fascinating to hear it recounted in detail. Even more, it confirms to me that Germany could have and should have prevented this debacle for all of Europe. In terms I am familiar with, they “were loaded for bear” and looking for an excuse. Their behaviour in Belgium tells the true tale of what their militarist tradition had led them to be - sadists, fascists, and terrorists of the worst kind.