About this title: Winner of a 1963 Pulitzer Prize, this profile of World War I captures the changes that took place at the turn of the 20th century, up until the tense days of the summer of 1914. Tuchman details these first several days of the conflict, paying special attention to people and events in the major capitals of Europe. She examines why the war began, as ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Bantam
Date Published: 1982
ISBN-13:9780553254013ISBN:0553254014
Description: Acceptable. Overall below average used book. May have highlighting, underlining, notes, price sticker on cover, or be an ex-library book. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Dell, New York
Date Published: 1963
Description: Poor. No dust jacket as issued. Highlighting/underlining. Signed by previous owner. A few pages have come loose from binding. Some underlining. Softcover. Glued. 573 p. Maps Index London ed. (Constable) has title: August 1914. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Dell, New York
Date Published: 1969
Description: Good. -10th Printing--575 pgs. Interior-Nice overall condition. The paperback cover has light signs of aging. -Publish Place: New York-Size: 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Bantam
Date Published: 1980
ISBN-13:9780553139594ISBN:0553139592
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Signed by previous owner. Mass Market Paperback, Clean, Great reading condition, spine crease, edge wear, dog eared, tan toned, read more
Description: Fair. Good reading copy. Pages are clean and in good condition, first few pages and last few pages have age spots, stamp on inside front cover, no writing or highlighting on inside book pages, average wear on the cover, the back cover has the bottom corner cut. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Dell
Date Published: 1965
Description: Acceptable. MAY HAVE COVER WEAR, SPINE CREASES, HIGHLIGHTING, UNDERLINING & PAGES YELLOWED FROM AGE. FASTER SERVICE FROM US! ! ! read more
Edition: First Thus
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Dell, New York
Date Published: 1963
Description: Very Good. No Jacket. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. First Dell Printing. 575 pp. with index, notes, and sources. No writing or marks. Pages are tanned. Binding is tight. Spine is lightly creased. Wraps are clean, starting to tan, slight edge wear. read more
Binding: Mass-market paperback
Publisher: Presidio Press
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780345476098ISBN:0345476093
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Mass market (rack) paperback. Glued binding. 640 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. read more
"Germany came close to winning the First World War in the first month of fighting. German commanders confidently expected to march their exhausted troops into Paris in the first week of September. The French Government has already fled the capital. It was to be the crowning glory of a month of victories. Germany had a forty-day plan for winning the war and their armies were right on schedule. In four days they expected to be in Paris. What they did not expect was for the retreating French forces to turn and attack.
Tuchman's Pulitzer Prize winning history stops on the eve of the first Battle of the Marne. It critiques the persistence of generals on both sides for their unwavering adherence to their war plan even in the face of contrary evidence that the enemy was not behaving as expected. Her portraits of officers and heads of state are vivid and witty, and her narrative style is superb.
May skillfully reads the quotations in the narration in a subtly British, American, French, or German accented English."
"One of my favorite books, a gripping account of the first month of the first World War. This book may well be the reason that I read military history at all. Tuchman is a wonderful writer, who effortlessly discusses military strategy and the movement of masses of troops while providing humanizing details about the protagonists, from generals to soldiers. She's also great at building suspense. Tuchman tries to be fair when discussing all sides of the conflict, though she certainly has her opinions and her favorites (Belgium's King Albert: good; BEF commander Sir John French: bad). As good as a thriller."
"One of the best historical works I have ever read, which is saying a great deal because I have read a lot of very good ones. Published in 1962, just in time for President John F. Kennedy to read it before the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world to the very precipice of Armageddon. Tuchman's book chronicles the complex web of alliances, personalities, intrigue, and miscalculation that led to the outbreak of the First World War, which was among the greatest tragedies in all of history. This book influenced JFK's handling of the missile crisis, and by so doing provided an intangible but very real benefit to the multitudes who have never read the book, nor perhaps even heard of it.
I have read this book twice, and will do so for at least a third time, probably sooner rather than later. Highly recommended.
(Update: I began reading this book for the third time on 8/1/2009.)"
"Another of Barbara Tuchman's awesome history books. This one covers just the first month of fighting in Europe during World War I (August 1914). She details the Schlieffen plan ("Let the last man on the right brush the channel with his sleeve") so well and the brutality of the German onslaught and the Allied response during that first month. The failure of the Schlieffen plan ended the possibility of a quick resolution to the war and Europe plunged into 4 years of hell (there were other factors to consider but this one set the stage pretty well).
Excellent research, wonderful writing. I truly miss Dr. Tuchman and her ability to bring history to life the way she did. Very few historians have that ability and she was one of the best."
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