THE PROUD TOWER : A Portrait of the World before the War, 1890 – 1914

Barbara Tuchman’s The Proud Tower is a haunting account of Britain on the cusp of total war. The last government in the Western world to possess all the attributes of aristocracy in working condition took office in England in June of 1895 . . . In this now classic work, Pulitzer prize-winning historian Barbara Tuchman explores the quarter century leading up to the First World War, from the dying embers of the British aristocracy to the fitful eruptions of the anarchist movement. She provides a compelling portrait of the key figures and conflicting ideologies of this time, giving an intimate view of an epoch that was soon to be swept away by the tide of history. ‘Her intention is to make the age alive for us, and in that she abundantly succeeds’ Daily Telegraph