“The muffled tongue of Big Ben tolled nine by the clock as the cortege left the palace, but on history’s clock it was sunset, and the sun of the old world was setting in a dying blaze of splendor never to be seen again.”
Barbara W. Tuchman's painstakingly assembled account of the first month of World War I is an absorbing read despite its hefty weight, both physically and emotionally. The author does a tremendous job of weaving a narrative amid horrific circumstances without shying away from questioning the character of certain leaders (Sir John French, in particular, suffers a withering depiction).
“They were twelve days in which world history wavered between two courses and the Germans came so close to victory that they reached out and touched it between the Aisne and the Marne.”
“No more distressing moment can ever face a British government than that which requires it to come to a hard and fast and specific decision.”
The character sketches are done carefully, though there are some unintentionally funny physical descriptions to keep you entertained if you're so inclined. Since "The Guns of August: The Outbreak of World War I" runs to well over 600 pages, you are likely to be so inclined.
“Erect and good-looking in a disciplined way, with straightforward eyes and a sensible mustache …”
“A trim, well-set-up officer of sixty-one with a direct glance and energetic mustache turned up at the corners …”
If there are any quibbles, it is that the assassination of Franz Ferdinand as an inciting factor was given scant attention. A reader might also benefit from a glossary of the main characters, as it was difficult to keep all the leaders and military personnel straight.
“The impetus of existing plans is always stronger than the impulse to change.”
“If there has to be a choice between injustice and disorder, said Goethe, the German prefers injustice.”
Tuchman also carefully renders the reality that war during that era was largely about trying to find the enemy before miscommunication destroys any advantages you might have, knowingly or unknowingly. The result is an account worthy of the Pulitzer Price (awarded in 1963), as well a sad reminder of the brutal mistakes we continue to make despite repeated lessons.
“When every autumn people said it could not last through the winter, and when every spring there was still no end in sight, only the hope that out of it all some good would accrue to mankind kept men and nations fighting.”
