Barbara Tuchman''s The Guns of August is a spellbinding history of the fateful first month when Britain went to war.

War pressed against every frontier. Suddenly dismayed, governments struggled and twisted to fend it off. It was no use . . .

Barbara Tuchman''s universally acclaimed, Pulitzer prize-winning account of how the first thirty days of battle determined the course of the First World War is to this day revered as the classic account of the conflict''s opening. From the precipitous plunge into war and the brutal and bloody battles of August 1914, Tuchman shows how events were propelled by a horrific logic which swept all sides up in its unstoppable momentum.

''Dazzling'' Max Hastings

''Magnificent'' Guardian

''Fascinating, splendid, glittering. One of the finest works of history'' New York Times

''A brilliant achievement'' Sunday Telegraph