Prospect Heights History Book Club: Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman

Just over 100 years ago many of our great grandparents saw the world they knew crumble around them in the horror of World War I. Empires collapsed, social and political traditions disappeared, and the world saw the first use of weapons of mass destruction. Many historians have said that the events leading up to, as well as the results of World War I continue to set the agenda for world politics today, just on a scale more grand and more dangerous.

The Prospect Heights History Book Club wants to mark the 100 year anniversary of World War I and explore the implications of this conflict by reading what most authors see to be one of the finest examples of history writing of the 20th century, Barbara Tuchman's, Guns of August. Along with being a controversial account of the first month of World War I, it is a first rate piece of literature.

Come talk about the world that your grandparents lived through, and the world that we now inherit at our meeting on August 12 at 7:00 p.m. at the Prospect Heights Public Library. The discussion will be moderated by Library Director, Alexander Todd and John McCarthy, Professor of Theology at Loyola University. Copies of the book are available at the Prospect Heights Library.