About this title: "The diplomatic origins, so-called, of the War are only the fever chart of the patient; they do not tell us what caused the fever. To probe for underlying causes and deeper forces one must operate within the framework of a whole society and try to discover what moved the people in it." --Barbara W. Tuchman The fateful quarter-century leading up to the World War I was a time when the world of Privilege still existed in Olympian luxury and the world of Protest was heaving in its pain, its power, and its hate. The age was the climax of a century of the most accelerated rate of change in ...
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Bantam Books
Date Published: 1981
ISBN-13:9780553234565ISBN:0553234560
Description: Good. Standard used condition. May have light reading or storage wear All orders processed within 2 business days. Ships from Foxboro MA. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Not Available, Not Available
Date Published: 0000
ISBN-13:9780553234565ISBN:0553234560
Description: Good in Good jacket. See Notes. Gently used paperback. ** PLEASE READ: This book is: TUCHMAN, BARBARA W. : THE PROUD TOWER This is the book you will receive if you order this item. read more
"This is a compelling account of the state of the world before World War I. There are chapters on England, the Anarchist movement, the United States, France, the Hague peace conferences, Germany, another on England, and the Socialist movement. The chapters cover the important issues and personalities for these countries and movements prior to the war. The book is well-written and very informative."
"An enjoyable overview of the western world in the decades leading up to World War I. Ms. Tuchman paints with broad strokes - you're not getting a very detailed history, but you are getting a feel for the issues, people, and culture of this period."
"Contrary to any expectations I had, this book was fantastic. It was an absorbing look at the monumental changes taking place throughout the Western world 100 years ago. Oddly enough, I couldn't put it down."
"1850 is my favorite year. What? You don't have a favorite year? Sure you do. It is the one you picked during the late night drunken college game of 'What If You Could Go Back in Time Where and When Would You Go?' I could waver a little on my date. 1849 or 1851 would be all right. And I'd have to land somewhere in Europe. Wagner, Beethoven, Brahms, Berlioz, Balzac, Hardy, Flaubert, Monet, Manet, et. al. where clustered either at the beginning or the end of their lives and the great Romantic Age crashed into the Industrial Revolution rushing pell-mell into the Modern Age. It was a great apotheosis of the arts. Did I mention Wagner? He's my man, you know. Anywhere you turned brilliance abounded.
This past week on Bill McGlaughlins classical music program (NPR) his subject was primarily Richard Strauss (a God in the pantheon of Post Romantic composers) and his contemporaries. The name of the series was 'The Proud Tower' and between selections he read wonderful quotes. Assuming everyone knew what he was talking about he bypassed an explanation so it wasn't until the third program the little light came on in my diffuse brain that the quotes and title were the same. At that point I still had no clue 'The Proud Tower' was by Barbara Tuchman whose only book I'd read was 'The Distant Mirror.' I was 20 and promptly dropped her from my litany of authors I want to pursue.
While 'The Proud Tower' doesn't fit my favorite year category, it comes close. The subtitle is 'A Portrait of the World Before the War 1890-1914. I tracked a copy down at Darns & Sloeble (they claimed there wasn't a copy in stock and yet there it was on the shelf; so much for computers).
I absolutely marvel at historians. To be so obsessive and methodical with research is beyond my comprehension. Yet, there it all is. Tuchman encompasses the political, social, literary and artistic world before the Great War clearly and concisely. It was an age when titled land owners were coming to and end. Socialism was blossoming from the murk of industrialization. Composers and authors were rebelling against form. Other than the Boar War, the world was at peace. It was a fascinating time. There's a lot to be covered, thus the 462 pages, but her writing is imminently readable and she has a crystalline way of tying people and events together. If you like history, it doesn't get any better than this. Even if you don't-there is an entire chapter on Richard Strauss. Pure heaven."
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