I recently read The Guns of August by the late Barbara W. Tuchman. It’s a book that I have always wanted to read, since this Pulitzer Prize-winning narrative history book has been read and reviewed glowingly by so many history fans! How many history books written in the early 1960s are still talked about in such glowing terms? Not many, that’s for sure.
See it on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4eKM1cJ
By way of overview, The Guns of August provides a detailed, dramatic account of the prelude to and the opening month of World War I, tracking the diplomatic failures and ultimately the military maneuvers of August 1914 up to the first battle of the Marne.
Tuchman opens the book with the 1910 funeral of King Edward VII, which served as a grand gathering of Europe's royalty and masked the underlying geopolitical rivalries. The men and women that would soon be lined up against each other in the trenches, visited London for the funeral. Its amazing to think it was just 4 years from Edward VII’s funeral in 1910 to 1914 and the end of a European Age.
Despite the mournful faces of the European monarchs, the Great Powers were well into preparations for war. Europe simmered with resentments from past wars, perceived lack of respect, and maneuvered for control of the continent. In fact, many already took the view that war was inevitable. Tuchman does a great job breaking down the rigid military doctrines of the powers, particularly Germany's Schlieffen Plan and France's offensive-heavy Plan XVII. The British had never really settled on anything other than control of seas, and the Russians? Well, the Russians were too far gone to legitimately build a coherent strategy capable of execution.
When it finally comes to the last attempts to avert the looming crisis, I couldn’t help but feel how pointless it all was. There was no great injustice being fought over, nothing worth the inferno that was about to erupt.
Tuchman goes on to cover the first 30 days of combat on the Western and Eastern Fronts, the rapid invasion of Germany from the east by a poorly prepared and led but brave Russian army, the great flanking movement through Belgium by the German Army that pushed the French to the outskirts of Paris. In fact, the narrative concludes just as the German advance toward Paris is halted at the First Battle of the Marne, paving the way for four years of grueling trench warfare.
If you are
interested in getting into the history of World War I then I definitely recommend
this book. Obviously, this is only really about why and how the war started and
the initial fighting in 1914. You will need to look to something else to fill in
the rest of the war and the post-war period. Regardless, The Guns of August is
a truly remarkable book.
Looking for more World War I history? Check out my review of Dead Wake which is about the sinking of the Lusitania by the Germans.
Publication date: August 2004 | Publisher: Presidio Press| Page Count: 640
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