The Proud Tower: A Portrait of the World Before the War, 1890-1914 by Barbara W. Tuchman
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I recall thinking Guns of August was a great book when I read it decades ago though. The golden years before WW1 were an incredibly interesting time. So when I found this one on a free shelf I grabbed it. What a disappointment. This book is basically Barbara Tuchman vomiting her research notes into a book. Enormous numbers of facts, figures, characters and events from the time period, but nothing to engage the reader whatsoever. If you insist on reading it, I would select certain chapters that may be of interest to you. IF you are into music, the chapter on Strauss and the arts scene at the time might engage. If you are into revolution, the chapter on socialists and anarchists will be of interest. As a whole though, the book fails to draw any of the chapters together in any way whatsoever, and is simply long and boring if read cover to cover.

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