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The Guns of August: The Pulitzer Prize-Winning Classic about the Outbreak of World War I

by Barbara W. Tuchman

The opening month of the First World War, traced step by step

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Awards & Recognition

  • Award recognition

    Pulitzer Prize winner

    The metadata identifies the book as a Pulitzer Prize winner.

  • Critical praise

    Praised by Newsweek as “a brilliant piece of military history”

    Newsweek praises the book as a brilliant work of military history.

AlbakiReads Editorial

The opening month of the First World War, traced step by step

Barbara W. Tuchman concentrates on the first thirty days of the First World War, placing the outbreak in the context of the decisions and preparations that preceded it. The account begins with the funeral of Edward VII and follows the sequence of developments leading to the clash, bringing the conflict’s key figures into its history. Its tightly defined period gives the book a clear frame: the opening of the war is examined both as a military crisis and as a turning point with consequences extending beyond 1914.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers seeking a historical account focused on the outbreak of the First World War.
  • Readers interested in the decisions, preparations, and key figures involved in the conflict’s opening month.
  • Readers exploring the wider historical consequences of the First World War’s beginning.

Themes

The outbreak of the First World WarMilitary and political decision-makingHistorical turning points and their consequences

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Book overview

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER - "A brilliant piece of military history which proves up to the hilt the force of Winston Churchill's statement that the first month of World War I was 'a drama never surpassed.'"--Newsweek

Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time

In this landmark account, renowned historian Barbara W. Tuchman re-creates the first month of World War I: thirty days in the summer of 1914 that determined the course of the conflict, the century, and ultimately our present world. Beginning with the funeral of Edward VII, Tuchman traces each step that led to the inevitable clash. And inevitable it was, with all sides plotting their war for a generation. Dizzyingly comprehensive and spectacularly portrayed with her famous talent for evoking the characters of the war's key players, Tuchman's magnum opus is a classic for the ages.

The Proud Tower, the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Guns of August, and The Zimmermann Telegram comprise Barbara W. Tuchman's classic histories of the First World War era
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