The Guns of August - My Review

The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


With a laser focus on July and August 1914, The Guns of August is a riveting slice of history, showing how those critical eight weeks defined the rest of the First World War and the 20th Century in Europe.

Tuchman introduces us to the generals who controlled the preparation for war and commanded the early fighting. She going into the battleplans of both Germany and France, along with the reluctant participation of the British and the chaotic mess that was the Russian advance. These are presented to us as people, and their strengths and failings are used to explain how so many things went wrong on all sides.

Details of the battles are not covered, as this is more about the wide sweep of the war. So rather than getting bogged down in the details of which regiment used which road, we learn about the slow French retreat and the German pursuit. The reader sees how German Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke struggled with his armies outrunning effective communication and their own supply lines, while The French Commander-in-Chief Joseph Joffre played a desperate game of trading ground for time.

The book ends with the start of the First Battle of the Marne, which is fitting.

My only complaint is the included maps are obviously reduced from a larger hardback edition and are almost unreadable. Other than that, another brilliant history that remembers that history is about the people who made it.



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