The Proud Tower: A Portrait of the World Before the War, 1890-1914; Barbara W. Tuchman's Great War Series

After taking a course in Western Civilization, I became interested in knowing more about how World War I came about - from what little I had known before, it didn't seem necessary. Barbara Tuchman's beautifully written book reinforces the idea that it wasn't necessary but at the same time it became inevitable. This book covers the 24 year period just before WWI begins with the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand by an anarchist. Such assassinations had occurred a number of times without resulting in war but this time was different. Tuchman guides the reader through all of the cross-currents that built up over those 24 years and shows how a war with Germany became just a matter of when, not whether. Both sides were almost gleeful when they finally had an excuse to touch it off because they were, well, ready.Tuchman seems to touch all of the bases - the latent anger over the Napoleonic wars in which Prussia had been shown to be impotent after all of its militaristic strutting, the attitude of the Western countries in treating Russia as an unwashed, uncouth giant, the desire of Russia to be treated as an equal, the slow but unstoppable march toward constitutionalism and voting enfranchisement of the middle and lower classes that was touched off by the Enlightenment philosophers and the American and French revolutions, the incredible intellectual inconsistency of the Anarchist and Marxian-Socialist movements who taught that nations didn't count and managed to create an atmosphere of fear among the still largely aristocratic governments and the wealthy and new middle-class, the awakening of expansionist (don't dare call it imperialist) sentiment in the USA, and the rapid rise of the economically and militarily powerful united Germany with its seeming certitude that it was destined to be the greatest among equals. There's a lot more but you get the idea.Tuchman wrote beautifully and her work acquaints the reader with the humans behind the events and not just those who are commonly met in the history books. The short-coming from my American point of view is that she doesn't really show how powerful the USA was becoming vis a vie the European powers or why it was likely that the USA would enter the "European War." Perhaps she covered that in "The Guns of August" that I have not yet read. The end of the war didn't really end it - would it have been more likely or less likely to restart if the USA had not entered the war? To me she seemed to have the typical bias of the British conservatives toward the rest of the world and I was surprised to find out as I was writing this that she was American. In any event she was a truly great recorder of history with a daunting ability to absorb and relate vast amounts of information. Well worth reading.

Barbara Tuchman is a very good writer of history. It's one of those situations in which you thank the Lord, or somebody, that this particular person decided to go ahead in this particular direction. I don't know if just anyone will enjoy "The Proud Tower," since it deals with a very precise period in history, the Victorian Age in Britain, or the time leading up to the First World War. However, for me Tuchman's book, while not actually revelatory (her book on the origins of W. W. I - "The Guns of August" - definitely was), proved well worth reading. She tends to deal a lot in anecdotes, making you wonder if some of the remarks she attributes to others have been taken out of context. But if this is a weakness, it also lends strength to the book by making it eminently readable. The period of world and particularly European history leading up to those August guns is endlessly interesting, since here was a world which in many ways, was closer to that of the 10th century, than the 20th. Aristocracy was fading, labour movements were slowly but surely making themselves felt, and the lights were, as we now know, slowly going out all over Europe. If you haven't read Tuchman yet, you are missing a very serious investigator who has the added charm of authorial integrity, but doesn't ram anything down your throat. It's intelligent, often perspicacious writing, which really freshens up our notions of what a history book should be.

I loved The Proud Tower. I wish that all History books were this interesting and informative. The book, as it's subtitle suggests is Ms. Tuchman's portrait of the world in the years leading to the First World War. It is cultural history, political history, biography and more. The book is divided into sections covering the years 1890-1914 in England, France, Germany, and the U.S. It also covers social, political, and cultural movements like Anarchism, Socialism and The Hague Peace Conference. Each section is it's own treasure and made me wish Ms. Tuchman had written an entire book on her various subjects. Many of them were new to me; such as Thomas B. Reed, the U.S. Speaker of the House around the turn of the last century, or the Anarchist movement in Europe and America. Some of the topics were more familiar, like the Dreyfus Affair in France, but no less interesting in her hands. This is a great book!!! Try it and see.