The Guns Of August Book Review

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The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman condensed the opening drama of The Great War into 440 pages. “Europe as a powder keg” is easily described and articulated through analysis of the belligerents’ pre-war operations and alliances. Barbara Tuchman is a Pulitzer Prize winning historian and journalist, her main focus centers around geopolitical affairs. Tuchman’s analysis of the first thirty days of the war demonstrates how inadequate each nation’s military was at the wars onset. The Guns of August present the reader with the primary factors of the disposition, political, and initial combat operations that shaped the First World War. However, the Author’s writing style was the forefront in conveying to the reader that Europe was foolishly …show more content…

The alliances of Europe were what ultimately led each nation into declarations of war amongst one another. The modern era was quickly approaching and the monarchies of old would …show more content…

Chronologically, Tuchman stayed to the general timeline of the events that proceeded, and subsequent situations that revealed themselves through the initial momentum of the war, however, she would refer to the past frequently when attempting give better insight. This is used, to give the reader a better understanding on the decisions these certain individuals came to. As far as perspective and biased; the beginning seemed to be a neutral standpoint, but progressing through the book it seemed to fall under the same concentration of German analysis with slight focuses on the Triple Entente. Though I enjoyed the backstory additions to the Guns of August, but I don’t think the average reader would appreciate the somewhat previous synopsis of individuals introduced to the reader at certain points in the book. In the prelude to the arrival of initial combat, is where I enjoyed the book best. This is where it highlighted the feeling of tension around Europe rather than the depicting treaties and alliances as the pure cause of the war. While Tuchman doesn’t discount the alliance of pre-war Europe, she illustrates the internal strife which mostly centered on Germany’s Wilhelm II and his administrators. While Tuchman notes multiple issues of the past between the nations at war, her skill as a writer is what primarily assist the reader piece together the situation.

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