The guns of August

"The drama of August, 1914, a month of battle in which war was waged on a scale unsurpassed, and whose results determined the shape of the world in which we live today."--Jacket.

In this landmark, Pulitzer Prize-winning account, renowned historian Barbara W. Tuchman re-creates the first month of World War I: thirty days in the summer of 1914 that determined the course of the conflict, the century, and ultimately our present world. Beginning with the funeral of Edward VII, Tuchman traces each step that led to the inevitable clash. And inevitable it was, with all sides plotting their war for a generation. Dizzyingly comprehensive and spectacularly portrayed with her famous talent for evoking the characters of the war's key players, Tuchman's magnum opus is a classic for the ages. - Random House.

Barbara Tuchman has brought to life again the people and events that led up to World War I. Ms. Tuchman reveals, for the first time, just how the war started, why, and why it could have been stopped but wasn't.

Author's note -- 1. A funeral -- Plans. 2. "Let the last man on the right brush the Channel with his sleeve" -- 3. The shadow of Sedan -- 4. "A single British soldier ..." -- 5. The Russian steam roller -- Outbreak. 6. August 1: Berlin -- 7. August 1: Paris and London -- 8. Ultimatum in Brussels -- 9. "Home before the leaves fall" -- Battle. 10. "Goeben ... an enemy then flying" -- 11. Liège and Alsace -- 12. BEF to the continent -- 13. Sambre et Meuse -- 14. Debacle : Lorraine, Ardennes, Charleroi, Mons -- 15. "The Cossacks are coming!" -- 16. Tannenberg -- 17. The flames of Louvain -- 18. Blue water, blockade, and the great neutral -- 19. Retreat -- 20. The front is Paris -- 21. Von Kluck's turn -- 22. "Gentlemen, we will fight on the Marne" -- Afterward.