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person1950s-1989

Barbara Tuchman

Disciplines:
history

Summary

American historian who wrote narrative histories of great precision and sweep — winning two Pulitzer Prizes and setting the standard for popular historical writing in the 20th century.

Core Contribution

The Guns of August: a masterly account of the opening weeks of WWI — how the war that nobody wanted happened. Won the Pulitzer Prize. The Zimmermann Telegram: the secret offer to Mexico that brought America into WWI. A Distant Mirror: the 14th century as a mirror for the 20th. Practicing History: essays on the craft of historical writing.

Key Spikes & Highlights

  • JFK read The Guns of August during the Cuban Missile Crisis and gave copies to his cabinet — an act of historical consultation that may have influenced the outcome of the most dangerous confrontation of the Cold War.

Notable Works & Achievements

The Guns of August

The Zimmermann Telegram

A Distant Mirror

The March of Folly

Historical Influences

Thucydides

Intellectual Lineage

American Narrative History

Contemporaries & Peers

Arthur Schlesinger Jr.C. Vann Woodward

Minds Influenced

Popular Historical Writing

Intellectual Posterity

Narrative History Popular History

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