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January 29, 2022

Almanac of Story Tellers: Barbara Tuchman

  Every day brings a new story.  And each day contributes to the art of story telling -- in prose and poetry, in music, on the stage, on the screen, and, of course, in books

Today is the story of January 30th.

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     It is the 30th day of the year, leaving 335 days remaining in 2022. 
    
    On this date in 1912, the historian and author Barbara Tuchman was born.


    Tuchman brought vivid details and a literary style of story telling to her history books, which won her two Pulitzer prizes. She wrote about international behavior, war, and diplomacy.

    Tuchman's books were popular with the general public, and U.S. politicians of the mid-20th Century often sought gravitas by citing her books as being on their reading lists.

    Her best known book, The Guns of August, published in 1962, earned her her first Pulitzer. It's a detailed account of the beginning of World War I, including descriptions of  Germany's invasion of  France. Historians praised her analysis of the miliary errors that helped led to the intractable trench warfare.

    In addition to the period before and following the first World War, Tuchman also wrote about the events, people, and life in 14th Century France. She wrote about U.S.-Chinese policy between the two world wars in Stillwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-1945, which won her her second Pulitzer.

    She died at her home in Greenwich, Conn., in 1989

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