This book about the lead up to and the first month of World War I won the Pulitzer Prize in 1962. It's hard to fathom just how much occurred during the brief time following the death of Edward VII and the beginning of the war and in the first month of hostilities. Tuchman pulled no punches when it came to portraying the arrogance and selfishness of those in command on both sides and the deadly retaliation by the Germans on anyone who opposed them. The Germans thought defeating France and Belgium would take a matter of days. France, Belgium, and Britain proved to be a stronger adversary than expected in spite of the infighting among commanders. I listened to the audio version and it was helpful to have a map of Belgium and France handy to understand where things were happening.
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