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Originally Posted by bfisher
Barbara Tuchman turned me on to history when I read "The Proud Tower". I've read most of her books two or three times for the literary quality of her work (plus the excellent research and level of detail); she can make the past come alive. When I read "The Guns of August", I did find it a very difficult read, but for me it was primarily because she could make the actors alive enough that it was horrible to see the train wreck coming; to me it is like watching the film of JFK's murder - you want to stop it before it happens.
Apparently, the book had a significant impact on JFK; supposedly, during the Cuban missile crisis, he was mindful of how the Balkan crisis had escalated into WW1 and strove to resolve the situation peacefully. Just from that perspective, I believe it is worth reading.
It's a bit old now (about 55 years old), and there has been some more information available to historians that wasn't available then, but I think that it's still one of the best books about how WW1 came about.
Thanks for the recommendation of the Foer book. It sounds very interesting, and I'm putting it on my TBR. BTW, have you ever read "The Old Patagonian Express"? There's a bit in there about a soccer game in San Salvador.
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I found the political parts of
The Guns of August interesting and sometimes even gripping enough to make you wonder what will happen next even though we all know that war ended up breaking out.
It's the military parts that tax my patience. I didn't have this problem with the Shelby Foote trilogy on the American Civil War. Part of this may be due to unfamiliarity with many of the personalities and places involved, much more so on the Russian front.
It feels like reading "Stranger No. 1 ordered Stranger No. 2 to advance towards Unfamiliar Place No. 1 by way of Unfamiliar Road No. 1, but this action was hindered due to the unforeseen appearance of Stranger No. 3 who came from Unfamiliar Place No. 2." Tuchman's writing quality is better than that, but you get the idea.
I enjoy the Foer book much more. I'm not sure if Foer has it backwards: does soccer (football) really explain the world, or does the world explain soccer? Here are the chapter headings, to give you some idea of the content:
1. How Soccer Explains the Gangster's Paradise
2. How Soccer Explains the Pornography of Sects
3. How Soccer Explains the Jewish Question
4. How Soccer Explains the Sentimental Hooligan
5. How Soccer Explains the Survival of the Top Hats
6. How Soccer Explains the Black Carpathians
7. How Soccer Explains the New Oligarchs
8. How Soccer Explains the Discreet Charm of Bourgeois Nationalism
9. How Soccer Explains Islam's Hope
10. How Soccer Explains the American Culture Wars
I've heard of but never read "The Old Patagonian Express".