Rating: 
Summary: Not one of her best
Review: Having read three other Barbara Tuchman books I must say this is clearly the worst of the lot. It gets bogged down in boring and thoroughly forgettable minutiae. Page after page of analyzing each and every composition by Richard Strauss is not my idea of a good read. Stick with The Guns of August, First Salute, and A Distant Mirror, great books all, and skip this one
Rating: 
Summary: informative and lively summary of pre-World War society
Review: I greatly enjoyed this book and re-read it on a periodical basis. Its principal strength is Ms Tuchman's ability to quickly limn the predominant characteristics of a person, a movement, or a society-- after just a few paragraphs I felt I truly understood the psychology of Kaiser Wilhelm, for example, or the insufferable yet somehow enchanting serenity of the English aristocracy. Another strength is that, although the individual chapters by and large concentrate on specific phenomena of the time (the disarmament movement, or Socialism), Ms Tuchman is able to interweave highly descriptive portraits of individual nations as well: thus, for example, her chapter on the Arts is bound up with the person of Richard Strauss, and by extension vivid depictions of fin-de-siecle Germany. Serious scholars will probably find fault with occasional superficialties; I thought, for example, the chapter on the arms race gave only a taste of the complex issues involved. However, as a general intoduction to the period The Proud Tower offers a lot to any reader.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Look at Pre-World War One
Review: I have always believed that one of the great questions of the 20th century has been what were the underlying causes of the First World War.I don't believe there was a greater watershed of events in the 20th century. From the chaos emerged the totalitarian state and hence the nearly 80 year struggle with Western Democracy. Barbara Tuchman doesn't try to answer why Europe happily plunged into a four year bloodbath(maybe no one can)but her book takes a good look at the 25 years prior to the war. Contrary to popular belief,pre-World War One society wasn't a peacefull,contented world. From the Anarchist movement to the horrible conditions of the poor and to the terrible racist divisions in France durning the Dreyfus Affair,Tuchman shows that this world was on the brink of collaspe. It was only a question of whether its death would be a slow drawn out affair(where a peacefull,evolutionary replacement could be born) or a violent,revolutionary one. Unfortunately we know the answer.From World War I came Lenin,Stalin,Hitler and the deaths of close to 100 million people. This most violent of centuries was born in the blood of World War I. Read The Proud Tower to begin to understand the history of the 20th Century.
Rating: 
Summary: Strong history coupled with unforgettable characters
Review: I have read and reread this book many times, each time finding new insights into men and women of intense character and into the internal politics and external policies of the great powers pointing inexorably to the "Great War". This is an exceptionally readable, accurate and compelling book.
Rating:
Summary: One of the great History books of all time
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Typical Tuchman, but not my favorite
Review: I normally love anything written by Barbara Tuchman, but not this one. She takes an unusual approach in weaving the story together. She moves chapter by chapter from one country, or one era in one country to another. Much of the focus is on cultural issues and not on typical "history". I can normally finish any book I start no matter how painfully difficult the reading, but I could not finish this one. I gave up about 20 pages into the overview of Germany as exemplified by Strauss' development...
Rating:
Summary: Another Tuchman tour de force
Review: If you have no experience of Barbara Tuchman and are about to read TheProud Tower, you're in for a treat. The lady brings history alive in away few can.The story of the West as the 19th Century turned intothe 20th is one of pride going before a fall on the grand scale. Thisbook is a paean to the splendid Old World that gave us the advances,luxuries, conceits, certainties, calculations and misconceptions thatresulted in the World Wars. A wealth of detail and well-chosenspecific cases bring those cultures and people alive on thepage. What was the Dreyfus Affair? How did British labor relationscome to be what they are today? What was it about the GermanKaiser...? The echoes of those issues can still be heard today becausethe underlying realities haven't changed much. Dreyfus was much moreabout official malfeasance and institutional prides and jealousiesthan anti-Semitism. Class warfare, essentially unknown in the US,bedevils labor relations in modern England as a century ago. Germanarrogance (and French jealousy) is muted but has notdisappeared. This book shows the timelessness of issues that arisefrom national characteristics which, in turn, are derivations oftraits common to all peoples. It's not in fashion these days to speakof such things - stereotypes - but French, English and Germaningenuity and arrogance, in ways peculiar to each nation, built theproud, towering edifice of Western civilization and then led to theslaughter of the world wars. Yin and yang, the good and the bad,Apollonian and Dyonisian, creating and destroying at the sametime. Were the world wars inevitable? Probably. Will mankind everget beyond catastrophic war? Perhaps, if the communicationsrevolution lives up to its promise. Had the co-constructors of theProud Tower been able sincerely to see themselves as others saw them,it's possible their pride would have worked toward accommodationrather than confrontation. That sort of thing has a better chance ofhappening in the Information Age than ever before. But if Heidegger,Nietzsche et al are correct, we're doomed to this cycle. Tuchmanprovides a front-row seat onto the world theater as it was in1900-1914, and it makes absorbing reading.
Rating:
Summary: Another Barbara Tuchman tour de force
Review: If you have no experience of Barbara Tuchman and contemplate reading The Proud Tower, expect a treat. The lady brings history alive in a way few can. The story of the West as the 19th Century turned into the 20th is one of pride going before a fall on the grand scale. This book is a paean to the splendid Old World that gave us the advances, luxuries, conceits, certainties, calculations and misconceptions that resulted in the World Wars. A wealth of detail and well-chosen specific cases bring those cultures and people alive on the page. What was the Dreyfus Affair? How did British labor relations come to be what they are today? What was it about the German Kaiser that pissed off everybody? The echoes of those issues can still be heard today because the underlying realities haven't changed much. Dreyfus was much more about official malfeasance and pettiness than anti-Semitism. Class hostility, essentially unknown in the US, bedevils labor relations in modern England as a century ago. German arrogance (and French jealousy) is muted but has not disappeared. This book shows the timelessness of issues that arise from national characteristics which, in turn, are derivations of traits common to all peoples. It's not in fashion these days to speak of such things - stereotypes - but French, English and German ingenuity and arrogance, in ways peculiar to each nation, built the proud, towering edifice of Western civilization and then degenerated into the slaughter of the world wars. Yin and yang, the good and the bad, Apollonian and Dyonisian, creating and destroying at the same time. Were the world wars inevitable? Probably. Will mankind ever get beyond catastrophic war? Perhaps, if the communications revolution lives up to its promise. Had the co-constructors of the Proud Tower been able sincerely to see themselves as others saw them, it's possible their pride would have worked toward accommodation rather than confrontation. That sort of thing has a better chance of happening in the Information Age than ever before. But if Heidegger, Nietzsche et al are correct, we're doomed to this cycle. The more one sees of multiculturalism, encouraging people as it does to be suspicious of others rather than open and friendly, the more one doubts we'll ever get off this merry-go-round of build and destroy, build and destroy. Tuchman provides a front-row seat onto the world theater of 1900-1914, and it makes absorbing, instructive reading.
Rating:
Summary: A Panorama of Extremes
Review: In The Proud Tower, Barbara Tuchman does want she does best. She creates a tapestry of a time focusing on the extremes, whether politically right or left or rich or poor. The spectre (and inevitablility) of the First World War hangs over the entire epoch. Ms. Tuchman portrays a world hurtling toward conflict fueled by its own excesses. What allows her to get away with more than most historians would attempt is her marvelous writing and her unerring selection of facts to both shock the reader (particulary with specific quotes and small incidences) and move the reader to a belief in a society that is doomed to collapse on itself. It is a daring approach that suceeds marvelously. I have read and reread Ms. Tuchman and she always delights.
Rating:
Summary: gripping story, superbly told
Review: Nobody can write history like Barbara Tuchman, and this one is a dazzling masterpiece. The period it covers is arguably the most critical ever, because it's about the run up to World War I. And WWI is at the root of all the grief of the 20th century, and it ain't over yet. So you find so many moments when you are saying "jeez if that just didn't happen...." or "damn! if it had just gone the other way..." - all the while knowing of course that you are on the deadly roller coaster to the world's stupidest war, and it's gonna happen.
But oh wow, the stories Barbara can tell! Fascinating cast of characters, the major stars, the supporting cast, and the ordinary folks, how they react what they are thinking. Lots of surprises too, at least for me- people you have heard of before in very different contexts popping up here, either trying to make the war happen or trying to stop it.
And then, the stuff you did hear about before, but maybe never really understood very well, she will tell you all about it. The intricate plots and schemes, the "Dear Nicky" letters, the death of Juares, and the absolutely best presentation I ever read of the Dreyfus case.
This is history, and history writing, at its very best. Don't miss it.
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