<p><p>in This Pulitzer Prize-winning Classic, Historian Barbara Tuchman Brings To Life The People And Events That Led Up To World War I. This Was The Last Gasp Of The Gilded Age, Of Kings And Kaisers And Czars, Of Pointed Or Plumed Hats, Colored Uniforms, And All The Pomp And Romance That Went Along With War. How Quickly It All Changed&hellip;and How Horrible It Became.<p>tuchman Masterfully Portrays This Transition From 19th To 20th Century, Focusing On The Turning Point In The Year 1914&#58; The Month Leading Up To The War And The First Month Of The War. With Fine Attention To Detail, She Reveals How And Why The War Started, And Why It Could Have Been Stopped But Wasn''t, Managing To Make The Story Utterly Suspenseful Even When We Already Know The Outcome.</p><h3>the Washington Post - Steven Moore</h3><p>[frey's] Ambition May Have Been To Write The Definitive Novel Of L.a., To Do For That City What Joyce Did For Dublin, Dos Passos Did For Manhattan Or Durrell Did For Alexandria. If So, He May Have Succeeded; Joyce Boasted That If Dublin Were To Disappear, It Could Be Reconstructed From His <i>ulysses,</i> And Frey Could Make The Same Claim For <i>bright Shiny Morning</i>&#8230;[it] Reads Quickly, Has Great Dialogue And Some Expertly Paced Dramatic Moments, Teaches You More About L.a. Than You Ever Knew, And Makes The Case (posited By An Artist Near The End) That Los Angeles Is The New New York, On Its Way To Becoming The Cultural Capital Of The World. Or It Could All Be A Stinging Satire Of The Most Violent, Corrupt, Polluted, Pretentious, Money-mad Place In America. Works Either Way.</p>