11-26-2003, 06:00 PM | #1 (permalink) | |
Junkie
|
Passage of the day - 27 Nov 2003
The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman
Quote:
It was an immediate success, thanks not least to Ms Tuchman's breathtaking prose, her grasp of the grand sweep of military and political events yet an eye for the human side of this terrible war. Basically a military history of the first month of the Great War that broke out in August, 1914, her book brought home to her audience like never before these terrible events, in lanugage both concise, descriptive and emotive, avoiding both hyperbole and dry or dense "facts and figures". President Kennedy presented a copy to British Prime Minister Macmillan. The Pulitzer Prize committee, prohibited from awarding a prize for history on a non-American subject, awarded her a prize for non-fiction. I love this book. I read a lot of history and it stands, if not alone, with the few historical works that appeal to both interested readers and the "general public." Even if you are not a lover of history I heartedly recommend The Guns of August. It is far from Ms Tuchman's only work (The Proud Tower, The Zimmerman Telegram), but it is surely her most famous. Read the passage again. She has an eery ability to make you visualize that grand affair. You feel almost as if you're there. You can see the procession, feel the crowds move foward craning their necks, hear the dull bass of the tolling bell... Finally she sets the scene for the inexorable march of progress. This marks the end of a era, she seems to tell us. From now on, things will be different. The world is changing. A terrible storm is gathering... This book will not disappoint. Even if you don't read it, note that the above is a perfect example of that often elusive goal; a beuatifully written passage of English prose. Mr Mephisto Last edited by Mephisto2; 11-26-2003 at 06:03 PM.. |
|
Tags |
2003, day, nov, passage |
Thread Tools | |
|
|