The Guns of August

Somewhat tedious for a general reader, but still very interesting

This is a serious, scholarly book about the beginning of WWI. It is written as a "big picture" : a lot of high diplomacy, geopolitics and large scale army movements . Perfect for an armchair general, but somewhat difficult for rest of us - civilian schpaks. Nevertheless, it gives a general reader like myself a very distinct "feel" of the time : including incredible misconceptions and mis-forecasts of all participants about the coming war , madness of kings and field-marshalls and common folks too, the devastation, and the feeling that the worst is yet to come. One criticism is lack of really comprehensive maps, the authors maps are realy schematic and the editors should consider additional ones to help the people reading the book 100 years after the events understand them better.
I grade the books as Buy and Keep (BK), Read Library book and Return ( RLR) and Once I Put it Down I Couldn't Pick it Up ( OIPD-ICPU). This one is BK if you are really interested in that time, and OIPD-ICPU if you are not.

4 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

Beginning of WWI Finally Explained

A traditional text book description of WWI would be summarized as follows: an assasination in Serbia lead German to declare war on Russia and France and German is defeated. If this explaination left you scratching your head through all your history classes then I highly recommend this book for you. It provides an indepth explanation of the events which caused WWI (a side from the standard Alliance System and the assasination of the Arch Duke) and explains exactically why Germany invaded France and Declared war on Russia. A difficult but enlightening read sure to please most any military history buff.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

My God How Good Cna It Get

First of all I consider Tuchman not only a first rate historian but but also a first rate writer,comparable perhaps only to Robert K. Massie (Castles of Steel,Dreadnought).This is one book that shows the true tragedy of the summer of 1914 when the Great Powers of Europe blindly stumbled into a murderous war costing millions of soldiers' lives and also civilians' in the 1918 influenza pandemic where the malnourished German population was decimated. The generals leading the operations are not portrayed as 'donkeys leading the lions',but simply as technically not up to date 19th century men not realizing that the heroic ways of offensive warfare did not work against machine guns and quickfiring artillery. Younger Moltke learned this -Joffre and Haig did not.These men did not know that the minimal infantry numbers of Frederick,Moltke,and even Napoleon were supplanted by huge masses of infatry which could not perform the Prussian charges nor Maneuvres sur derriere of Napoleon but needed huge logistics tails which Schlieffen conveniently neglected in his Great Memorandum considering his war of movement and rigid time tables proposed. The innovative way of waging war was fought at sea considering the distant blockade,the U boat war and the defense against it.Jutland was not that innovative although the charge of caution against Jellicoe was unjust since he won the battle strategically. Tuchman describes the initial war of movement before it ground to a halt. She treats Molke the Yonger as what he was a physically sick old man out his depth trying to do the best he could. Of course this book is a classic.Why not? It should be.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Guns of August

Great Book!

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

MUST READ

COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN,GREAT HISTORY LESSON

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Awesome

One of the best books written about the beginning of WW1 period•

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Recommend as a good for you book

One review said this was a real page turner. Not for me. This is good to give better understanding of the realities of war and beyond the simplistic explanation of school history books but it's fairly tedious to read. In e-book format the maps are not legible.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great history

Interesting commentary the first salvos of the Great War. The German Army's rampage in Belgium explains some of the hatred harbored by other country against the entire German Populace.

Highly Recommend

I read this years ago and rereading it was a great experience. It still plays well after all these years and you can see how we- especially our leaders- still haven't learned anything from this horrible month nearly a century ago. Some of the text she quotes could be pulled right out of todays headlines.

Tuchman also wrote so well that you can understand the intrigue with no problem.

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0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Possibly the best non-fiction I've ever read.

The comprehensive detail into the personalities and ambitions of the major players astounded me. The narrative was riveting and extremely powerful.

The Folly of War

We glamorize war. For the millons who died or maimed in World War I, the survirors wanted it to be the "War that ended all wars." Of course, it wasn't. Tuckman shows how rigid diplomacy, egos, and a chip on the shoulder can culminate in war. One critic wrote, "We all know how World War I ended, but, when you're reading Tuchman, you're just not quite sure!" A wonderfully written book you'll enjoy!

I was lost most of the time (review of audio book)

(My review is of the audio book format.)


Sorry to say this, but I was rather disappointed with The Guns of August audio book. The bottom line was that I just could not follow a lot of what was being said. I am not great with names, so half the time I did not even know which person was associated with which country. (In my defense, I do not speak German or French so many of the names are hard for my brain to remember.) I think the book would be easier to follow in print rather than audio format. I struggled to listen and got about half way through chapter 10 before I quit.


My other problem with the book is that the author assumes you already know a great deal about the events leading up to 1914. I had to go to a WW1 website and do some basic homework before some of it started to make sense. She speaks about past events "matter-of-factly", and if you do not have a baseline understanding of Europe 1870 - 1914, then you are simply left behind. You need a basic understanding of European geography, because the author does not pause to explain any of this. She makes frequent references to towns and cardinal directions, which was completely lost on me. Perhaps I am just an ignorant American, but I doubt most of my peers could point out Bosnia, Belgium, Luxemburg, all the various straits and other European landmarks on an unmarked map. I spent more time looking stuff up online than listening to the book.


Yes I did learn something, but not from the book. So, I give 5 stars to the WW1 website that I visited, and only 2 stars to this audio book. I imagine I would have a better time with the printed version; however I am rating the audio book here.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

It was 2004,I was looking for a cheap second hand book to read at Booksale Walter Mart branch when I chanced upon a book concerning the events of WW1.I am an avid reader of history books ever since my late father got a book from a German seaman

The book has touched the inner core of my heart.I further realized the inherent altruism of every soldier knowing how strong the chances of not making it home in one piece.The Battle of Tannenberg made me bled from inside,I consider General Samsonov,Russian Commander of the 1st Army , a hero for he would rather kill himself than be facing the Czar in shame because of his alleged poor tactics in warfares aside from the historical views of the possible betrayal of him by General Rennenkempf,commander of the 2nd Army,who won the Battle of Gumbinen,but was a no show and faraway when Samsonov's army was enveloped by the German army.

Very good!

This book is an excellent history of the beginnings of WWI. It starts off a bit slow, but picks up quickly. The author does a great job explaining the not only the battles, but also the military and political leadership behind them. The book really does a good job of illustrating the ineptitude of the leaders on both sides, as well as their numerous misconceptions and bad predictions. By the end of the book, I was left wanting to know "what happened next?" and it inspired me to read more about the war.
My only complaint would be about the maps: The first problem is that there aren't enough maps. There are only 2 or 3 in the entire book. This makes it difficult, at times, to follow the some of the action unless you are intimiately familiar with the geography of Beligum and northern France. The second problem is the quality of the maps; they are horrible! They look like low-quality photocopies from a 60-year old text book or something.

A reviewer

This book is a very in depth book on the lead up to and first month of the first world war, well researched so well you can almost imagine being there. If it wasn't so serious it would be amusing when you read about the incompetence, ego's, petty squabbling, dated tatics, failure to see the obvious the list goes on.

Scattered ideas in terms of the origins

Tuchman does not compel to explain the origins of the the Great War and scatters incidents throughout the book. There is no mention on imperialism as well as the crises in Europe which led to the war. The explanation of Belgian neutrality was well written, as well as the outbreak but if you are looking for the underlying causes of war, this is not your book.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Witchhunt

If you ever sent ten of your best friends to their death, you would be more forgiving. Chapter about Souchon is excellent though. Excellent basis for someone to write a synopsis of those critical days, relying on photostats of orders etc. the way some books have been written recently.

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A double edged sword

After just finishing this for a school project, I must confess some conflicting emotions. Tuchman succeeds in moving beyond the realm of the history book, creating a narrative that is both compelling and informative. Her attention to detail, especially in the realm of the commanders personalities, is both the book's strongest and weakest point. While this approach provides an interesting view of the events of WWI, Tuchman has a tendency to overemphasize and repeat herself. In short, this book could have been 100 pages shorter with no great loss of content. On top of that, being forced to read the same idea 3 or 4 times becomes somewhat demeaning (i.e. Belgian neutrality was one of the central issues of the war.) But for all its foibles, those who choose to pick up this book will find a far more interesting version of history than the one in your textbook.

Easy and Informative Reading

The author uses skills to create an informative story. Her talents makes the subject matter interesting and intelligible...something few historians seem capable of doing.