资源描述：
《The Guns of August.pdf》由会员上传分享，免费在线阅读，更多相关内容在学术论文-天天文库。
1、TheGunsofAugustBarbaraW.TuchmanBALLANTINEBOOKS*NEWYORKForewordDuringthelastweekofjanuary,1962,JohnGlenndelayedforthethirdtimehisattempttorocketintospaceandbecomethenation’sfirstearth-orbitinghuman.Bill“Moose”Skowren,theYankee’sveteranPage1GeneratedbyABCAmberLITConverter,http://www.processtext.com/
2、abclit.htmlfirstbaseman,havinghadagoodyear(561atbats,28homeruns,89runsbattedin),wasgivena$3,000raisewhichelevatedhisannualsalaryto$35,000.FrannyandZooeywasatthetopofthefictionbestsellerlist,followedafewnotchesdownbyToKillaMocking•bird.Atthetopofthenon-fictionlistwasMyLifeinCourtbyLouisNizer.Thatwe
3、ekalsosawthepublicationofoneofthefinestworksofhistorywrittenbyanAmericaninourcentury.TheGunsofAugustwasanimmediate,overwhelmingsuccess.Reviewerswereenthusiasticandword-of-mouthquicklyattractedreadersbythetensofthousands.PresidentKennedygaveacopytoPrimeMinisterMacmillan,ob•servingthatsomehowcontemp
4、orarystatesmenmustavoidthepitfallsthatledtoAugust,1914.ThePulitzerCommittee,forbiddenbythedonor’swilltorewardaworkonanon-AmericansubjectwiththePrizeforHistory,foundasolutionbyawardingMrs.TuchmanaPrizeforGeneralNonfiction.TheGunsofAugustmadetheauthor’sreputation;herworkthereafterwasgrippingandelega
5、nt,butmostreadersneededonlytoknowthatthenewbookwas“byBarbaraTuchman.”Whatisitaboutthisbook—essentiallyamilitaryhistoryofthefirstmonthoftheFirstWorldWar—whichgivesititsstampandhascreateditsenormousreputation?Fourqualitiesstandout:awealthofvividdetailwhichkeepsthereaderimmersedinevents,almostasaneye
6、witness;aprosestylewhichistrans•parentlyclear,intelligent,controlled,andwitty;acooldetachmentofmoraljudgement—Mrs.Tuchmanisneverpreachyorreproachful;shedrawsonskep•ticism,notcynicism,leavingthereadernotsomuchoutragedbyhumanvillainyasamusedandsaddenedbyhumanfolly.Thesefirstthreequalitiesarepresenti
7、nallofBarbaraTuchman’swork,butinTheGunsofAugustthereisafourthwhichmakesthebook,oncetakenup,almostimpossibletosetaside.Remark•ably,shepersuadesthereadertosuspendanyforeknowledgeofwhatisabouttohappen.Hernarrativese
