Barbara Tuchman's "The Guns of August" has also been published as "August" this fateful year
A brilliant piece of military history which proves up to 
the hilt the ... [The Guns of August] has a vitality that transcends its narrative 
virtues, which are .... Tuchman writes about the turning point of the year 1914--the 
month leading up to the war ... And it's also a story of the men who make the war.