Barbara W. Tuchman wrote narrative history about war, diplomacy, political miscalculation and the decisions that lead institutions towards crisis. The Guns of August examines the opening month of the First World War, moving among governments, generals and military plans as mobilisation turns a regional conflict into a wider European war. The Proud Tower looks at Europe and the United States in the decades before 1914 through a series of thematic portraits, while A Distant Mirror uses the life of the French nobleman Enguerrand de Coucy to explore the fourteenth century. The March of Folly studies repeated cases in which governments pursued policies contrary to their own interests. Tuchman's books are written as narrative history for general readers, with strong attention to personalities, sequence and irony. The Guns of August is the clearest starting point for military and diplomatic history; A Distant Mirror suits readers more interested in medieval society and long-form historical portraiture. Read more Less
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