Many rejoiced at the outbreak of war in 1914. Some of the most ardent and eloquent opponents of the conflict ended up supporting their governments. Most felt that the war would last only months.What followed was, of course, the worst conflict man had seen. Barbara Tuchman's history of the first three months of the war is an excellent historical introduction, dealing with a forgotten part of the conflict - the war of manouevre that the European powers engaged in before beginning trench warfare that has become synonymous with the Great War.This Abacus reissue of the bestselling THE GUNS OF AUGUST is a brilliant military history, a thrilling narrative that shows the leaders, the policitians, and the generals - ordinary men who led their countries into and extraordinary war and were prepared to sacrifice their fellow countrymen.