Tuchman's book was part of an introductory trilogy that I read as a late teen, early adult about the origins and course of WWI. The other two were "The Fall of the Dynasties" by Taylor and "Royal Sunset" by Brook-Sheppard. All were influential in my early understanding of the historical but Tuchman sparked my fascination with her writing. I still reflect on that book some 35 years having passed since I first read it. Thanks for such a nice video paying homage to a rare talent.
Read it years ago and have never forgotten it. I'm not a voracious reader but have read a descent amount of books in my lifetime and this book stands out as one of the finest. Even though imperialism has been replaced, it is perhaps more important now than at any time in the last 60 years as regards Europe and current affairs.
My goal for the coming year is to read her works I haven't read, reread the others. She's my favorite historian. Your admiration is merited. If you want insight into China, read her volume on Stillwell - what you don't learn in school.
Thanks a lot for your video, I also enjoyed reading it so much - even in the german translation it was very good to read! I actually live in vienna just 100m away from the museum of military history, where the car in which Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand and his wife were shot in is kept. It's really impressive to "see" world history this way...
1914 - A very serious but very local dispute between 2 adjacent countries was encouraged to expand into a far more serious global conflict that saw hitherto untold destruction. 1939 - A very serious but very local dispute between 2 adjacent countries was encouraged to expand into a far more serious global conflict of even more untold destruction. 2022 ? - A very serious but very local dispute between 2 adjacent countries was encouraged to expand into a far more serious global conflict of unimaginable destruction.
Your passion for history shines through in this video, good sir. :) Glad to have discovered your channel. The Guns of August is a fabulous work of non-fiction writing, indeed.
This book is remarkable in every way and I love how you mentioned the sense of humor or sense of the absurd that Tuchman brings or captures because this war never should have happened, could have been avoided at many key moments, yet went on to kill millions through man's inability to control or even comprehend his own technology and set the stage for the greater tragedies to come. Let's face it, the greatest tragic-comedy of all time. Will we top it?
I've been a history buff since I was a boy and just finished reading Guns of August. She is a brilliant writer; the sort of historian we need to get people interested in history. I have also been trying - and mostly failing - to get into David Eisenhower's book on Ike. He's a decent writer, but he doesn't inspire in the way Tuchman does.
This is a beautiful review, focusing exactly on those points by which Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August really shines. The criticism that came later, that she wrote from an anti-German bias, is ridiculous. What Tuchman wrote about the Kaiser was simply the truth. He was an unbalanced, insecure petty tyrant whose bluster and tantrums were instrumental in whipping up the war fever that culminated in the events of August 1914.
I've never read the book. Was planning on it someday. Does she mention oil because if she doesn't mention oil then I probably will pass. You ought to check out Robert Newman's "History of Oil" here on UA-cam. He explains the actual causes of WWI. It's funny and informative.
I think he is a fine writer and a very good historian. He tends towards a Conservative outlook (in the British political sense) but he doesn't make a secret of it and that's never stopped me personally from enjoying and appreciating his works - which is not to say I necessarily subscribe to his views. How about you?
In the end, The Guns of August is a book that made a splash in the 1960s. It’s my opinion that it resonated so much during that time because of one of its overarching theses, that of two large competing power-blocks whom were at the edge of a conflict - and due to things like arms races they made the plunge, “stupidly”, to war. Tuchman, in her writing, was reflecting the zeitgeist of the Cold War. That Cold War narrative resonated with people because it reminded them so much of what could easily happen with much more disastrous consequence. In the year 2020 this narrative is not nearly as relevant as it was in 1962. Her arguments no longer really hold up, and many of them were even criticized by historians then. Guns of August isn’t really worth your time to learn about the First World War.
Tuchman's book was part of an introductory trilogy that I read as a late teen, early adult about the origins and course of WWI. The other two were "The Fall of the Dynasties" by Taylor and "Royal Sunset" by Brook-Sheppard. All were influential in my early understanding of the historical but Tuchman sparked my fascination with her writing. I still reflect on that book some 35 years having passed since I first read it. Thanks for such a nice video paying homage to a rare talent.
Thanks for the informative review. I haven't read the book yet but will rectify that shortly!
Without question one of the great historians of our time. Guns of August a super book.
Read it years ago and have never forgotten it. I'm not a voracious reader but have read a descent amount of books in my lifetime and this book stands out as one of the finest.
Even though imperialism has been replaced, it is perhaps more important now than at any time in the last 60 years as regards Europe and current affairs.
My goal for the coming year is to read her works I haven't read, reread the others. She's my favorite historian. Your admiration is merited. If you want insight into China, read her volume on Stillwell - what you don't learn in school.
Reading it for the second time. Masterpiece.
Thanks a lot for your video, I also enjoyed reading it so much - even in the german translation it was very good to read!
I actually live in vienna just 100m away from the museum of military history, where the car in which Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand and his wife were shot in is kept. It's really impressive to "see" world history this way...
Thank you for a brilliant review of this wonderful book.
1914 - A very serious but very local dispute between 2 adjacent countries was encouraged to expand into a far more serious global conflict that saw hitherto untold destruction.
1939 - A very serious but very local dispute between 2 adjacent countries was encouraged to expand into a far more serious global conflict of even more untold destruction.
2022 ? - A very serious but very local dispute between 2 adjacent countries was encouraged to expand into a far more serious global conflict of unimaginable destruction.
Your passion for history shines through in this video, good sir. :) Glad to have discovered your channel.
The Guns of August is a fabulous work of non-fiction writing, indeed.
This book is remarkable in every way and I love how you mentioned the sense of humor or sense of the absurd that Tuchman brings or captures because this war never should have happened, could have been avoided at many key moments, yet went on to kill millions through man's inability to control or even comprehend his own technology and set the stage for the greater tragedies to come. Let's face it, the greatest tragic-comedy of all time. Will we top it?
It's great video on the book. Looking forward to reading it.
Interesting video, it is important to know how war was like,and it is also important for not making the same mistakes nowadays, great video by the Way
Thanks for this commentary
I've been a history buff since I was a boy and just finished reading Guns of August. She is a brilliant writer; the sort of historian we need to get people interested in history. I have also been trying - and mostly failing - to get into David Eisenhower's book on Ike. He's a decent writer, but he doesn't inspire in the way Tuchman does.
This is a beautiful review, focusing exactly on those points by which Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August really shines. The criticism that came later, that she wrote from an anti-German bias, is ridiculous. What Tuchman wrote about the Kaiser was simply the truth. He was an unbalanced, insecure petty tyrant whose bluster and tantrums were instrumental in whipping up the war fever that culminated in the events of August 1914.
It's narrative history. In fact it is the genesis of the narrative history genre.
first book i read about WWI
I've never read the book. Was planning on it someday. Does she mention oil because if she doesn't mention oil then I probably will pass. You ought to check out Robert Newman's "History of Oil" here on UA-cam. He explains the actual causes of WWI. It's funny and informative.
It only covers the first thirty days of the war.
What is your opinion on Andrew Roberts's books?
I think he is a fine writer and a very good historian. He tends towards a Conservative outlook (in the British political sense) but he doesn't make a secret of it and that's never stopped me personally from enjoying and appreciating his works - which is not to say I necessarily subscribe to his views. How about you?
In the end, The Guns of August is a book that made a splash in the 1960s. It’s my opinion that it resonated so much during that time because of one of its overarching theses, that of two large competing power-blocks whom were at the edge of a conflict - and due to things like arms races they made the plunge, “stupidly”, to war. Tuchman, in her writing, was reflecting the zeitgeist of the Cold War. That Cold War narrative resonated with people because it reminded them so much of what could easily happen with much more disastrous consequence.
In the year 2020 this narrative is not nearly as relevant as it was in 1962. Her arguments no longer really hold up, and many of them were even criticized by historians then. Guns of August isn’t really worth your time to learn about the First World War.
She's very anti-German from page one.
No matter what you think about the actions of Germany, her bias permeates the book, to seeming excess.
You just saved me from reading her book. Anti-German history books are a dime a dozen. I want to hear a different POV