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The Guns of August

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The Guns of August

By: Barbara W. Tuchman
Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
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About this listen

 In this Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, historian Barbara Tuchman brings to life the people and events that led up to World War I. This was the last gasp of the Gilded Age, of Kings and Kaisers and Czars, of pointed or plumed hats, colored uniforms, and all the pomp and romance that went along with war. How quickly it all changed...and how horrible it became.

Tuchman masterfully portrays this transition from 19th to 20th Century, focusing on the turning point in the year 1914: the month leading up to the war and the first month of the war. With fine attention to detail, she reveals how and why the war started, and why it could have been stopped but wasn't, managing to make the story utterly suspenseful even when we already know the outcome.

©1990 Dr. Lester Tuchman (P)2005 Blackstone Audio, Inc. 20th Century Military Modern World War Royalty Imperialism Middle Ages Russia Interwar Period

Critic Reviews

"More dramatic than fiction...a magnificent narrative - beautifully organized, elegantly phrased, skillfully paced...The product of painstaking and sophisticated research." (Chicago Tribune)
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This important work is trivialised by the rubbishy pseudo accents inflicted on German and French protagonists. This reflects poorly on this well-established piece of scholarship

Corny performance

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I just don’t get why the narrator would do accents for every character. German, French, American, Russian... it’s very offputting.

Fantastic book but the accents...

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The Guns of August audio book strikes the perfect balance between fascinating and incredibly well researched subject matter, a fantastic writing style and the perfect reader.

The best of audible

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Couldn't enjoy this one due to the grating voice actor. Hopefully it can be redone.

Great story, bad narration

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it made me realize how much our view of history is shaped by fashion. I was taught this war was pointless, as opposed to wwii which was a struggle against evil. This was the view of the generation after the war, not the people who fought in that war.

completely changed my view of the great war

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I would recommend this bookj to anyone with an interest in WW1. It is never heavy going and tremendously informative.

Magnificent!

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Outstanding writing coupled with outstanding narration. So many of the phrases used will resonate. The detail, coverage, and multiple points of view is far broader than any other comparable text.

Detailed historical study

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Classic account of opening month of WW1. Gives detailed history of Schliefen Plan and reason for failure.

RM

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i enjoyed the story as late 1914 kicked into high gear heading into one of the bloodiest and brutal struggles of the 20th century. My only struggle with the book was the narrator. I wish Wanda hadn't used nationalised accents for the different quotes, this might be for some just not for me.

Good Story, Average Narration

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A great book, well narrated. Provided fascinating insight into the inexorable wheels of disaster that precipitated the horrors of the Western Front.

Fascinating insight into the opening months of WW1

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