"[Barbara W. Tuchman's] Pulitzer Prize-winning
The Guns of August was an expert evocation of the first spasm of the 1914-1918 war. She brings the same narrative gifts and panoramic camera eye to her portrait of the antebellum world."
–Newsweek "A rare combination of impeccable scholarship and literary polish . . . It would be impossible to read
The Proud Tower without pleasure and admiration."
–The New York Times "An exquisitely written and thoroughly engrossing work . . . The author's knowledge and skill are so impressive that they whet the appetite for more."
–Chicago Tribune "[Tuchman] tells her story with cool wit and warm understanding."
–Time