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1、BarbaraW.TuchmanTheGunsofAugustBALLANTINEBOOKS*NEWYORKForewordDuringthelastweekofjanuary,1962,JohnGlenndelayedforthethirdtimehisattempttorocketintospaceandbecomethenation'sfirstearth-orbitinghuman.Bill"Moose"Skowren,theYankee'sveteranfirstbaseman,havinghadagoodyear(561atbats,28homeruns,89runsbattedi
2、n),wasgivena$3,000raisewhichelevatedhisannualsalaryto$35,000.FrannyandZooeywasatthetopofthefictionbestsellerlist,followedafewnotchesdownbyToKillaMockingbird.Atthetopofthenon-fictionlistwasMyLifeinCourtbyLouisNizer.ThatweekalsosawthepublicationofoneofthefinestworksofhistorywrittenbyanAmericaninourcen
3、tury.TheGunsofAugustwasanimmediate,overwhelmingsuccess.Reviewerswereenthusiasticandword-of-mouthquicklyattractedreadersbythetensofthousands.PresidentKennedygaveacopytoPrimeMinisterMacmillan,observingthatsomehowcontemporarystatesmenmustavoidthepitfallsthatledtoAugust,1914.ThePulitzerCommittee,forbidd
4、enbythedonor'swilltorewardaworkonanon-AmericansubjectwiththePrizeforHistory,foundasolutionbyawardingMrs.TuchmanaPrizeforGeneralNonfiction.TheGunsofAugustmadetheauthor'sreputation;herworkthereafterwasgrippingandelegant,butmostreadersneededonlytoknowthatthenewbookwas"byBarbaraTuchman."Whatisitaboutthi
5、sbook-essentiallyamilitaryhistoryofthefirstmonthoftheFirstWorldWar-whichgivesititsstampandhascreateditsenormousreputation?Fourqualitiesstandout:awealthofvividdetailwhichkeepsthereaderimmersedinevents,almostasaneyewitness;aprosestylewhichistransparentlyclear,intelligent,controlled,andwitty;acooldetac
6、hmentofmoraljudgement-Mrs.Tuchmanisneverpreachyorreproachful;shedrawsonskepticism,notcynicism,leavingthereadernotsomuchoutragedbyhumanvillainyasamusedandsaddenedbyhumanfolly.ThesefirstthreequalitiesarepresentinallofBarbaraTuchman'swork,butinTheGunsofAugustthereisafourthwhichmakesthebook,oncetakenup,
7、almostimpossibletosetaside.Remarkably,shepersuadesthereadertosuspendanyforeknowledgeofwhatisabouttohappen.HernarrativesetsinmotionagiganticGermanArmy-threefieldarmies,sixteenarmycorps,thirty-sevendivi
