historian and pulitzer prizewinning author barbara tuchman has brought to life again the people and events that led up to world war i with attention to fascinating detail and an intense knowledge of her subject and its characters ms tuchman reveals for the first time just how the war started why and how it could have been stopped but wasnt a classic historical survey of a time and a people we all need to know more about the guns of august will not be forgotten in 1960s america four young boys go on a journey to search for the body of a boy killed by a train as they travel they discover how cruel the world can be but also how wondrous