Proud Tower A Portrait of the World Before the War 1890-1914

"I was disappointed to find that [Mrs. Tuchman's] new book does not come up to the high level of 'The Guns of August'....There are a surprising number of stylistic critities and cliches for a writer of her power....In treating personality the author's lapses are most disappointing, since she herself so often provides the standard of excellence....The most serious defect...is structural....If Mrs. Tuchman could have made explicit the subjective basis for her choices,...if she could have given them shape and definition, she might thereby have raised them to the level of an organizing principle. As a result, her book could have taken on thematic coherence. But since she reamins unaware of or embarrassed by her modus operandi, we have instead not a 'portrait of the period,' but random brush strokes leaving a canvas unoccupied by any ruling vision."Tuchman, Barbara W. is the author of 'Proud Tower A Portrait of the World Before the War 1890-1914', published 1996 under ISBN 9780345405012 and ISBN 0345405013.