The narration is quite good as the narrator does her best to put foreign accents on all of the French and German personalities (I actually think it might have worked better if a man had narrated the book- namely because all of the main characters were men-but Ms. What makes the book great is the manner in which the author takes the historical figures of that time period (such as the Kaiser, Foch, Joffre, Churchill, French, Kitchner, Von Moltke, Poincare) and paints a very human portrait of all of them through short biography of their pre 1914 lives and how these pre war events shaped the decisions that they made during the first month of the war. Although the war lasted until 1918, by the time it ended, nothing was left of the old order and it was really the personalities of the new order (Lloyd George, Clemenceau and Wilson) who brought about the peace. After 1914, things would never be the same. Up until that point, the old order (monarchs and aristocracy) held strong in Europe and Europe controlled the world. By listening to the audiobook, one really acquires a great understanding of just how August 1914 transformed the world. This audiobook has reinforced my opinion. Although she went on to write several other excellent books, I believe that this was Barbara Tuchman's best book. I first read this book years ago when I was teenager and found it be so fascinating and well written that it stimulated my interest in history (especially World War One) which I have maintained to this day. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the events leading up to the First World War.Ī Great Book-One Of My Alltime Favorite Books In my view it is better than either of the other of her books (The Proud Tower and The Distant Mirror) that I have listended to. I gave this book 5 stars and think it is worth every one.
One would hope that given the new visual capabilities of todays devices the producers would find some way to include maps. However the first complaint is problably a lack in the original printed form of the book and the second is a drawback of narrated books in general. I had to get my John Keegan book on the First World War and look at the maps to understand exactly what was happening. One is that not all of the French is translated into English and the other is that there are no maps. Descriptions and events are clear and largely riveting. I think that Nadia May, who narrates this and other Barbara Tuchman books, does a wonderful job. Occasionally I come across a book that is so good that I don't know if I should keep listening or turn it off for fear of finishing too quickly.
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