The Zimmermann Telegram

“A true, lucid thriller…A tremendous tale of hushed and unhushed uproars in the linked fields of war and diplomacy…Mrs. Tuchman makes the most of it with a creative writer’s sense of drama and a scholar’s obeisance to the evidence.” —New York Times

“Has most of the ingredients of an Eric Ambler spy thriller.” —Saturday Review

“This is well-crafted history that flows like a novel. Wanda McCaddon captures the storyteller tone of Tuchman’s prose. You could be sitting across the table drinking coffee and learning that, unlike what you learned in high school, the sinking of the Lusitania is not the only reason America joined the Great War. You’ll learn about President Wilson’s naïve adherence to neutrality despite the warnings of his advisors and about the Germans’ cynicism and arrogance as they try to manipulate events and countries to their advantage. You’ll find out that the British through ingenuity and planning were reading German codes they thought were unbreakable and about the balancing act the British had to play to protect their source while at the same time informing the Americans. Whether you’re a history buff or not, you can learn from The Zimmermann Telegram. It captures the people and events in an era when personalities and alliances were every bit as convoluted as they are now.” —SoundCommentary.com

“Historian Barbara Tuchman tells of a secret telegram sent from the German foreign minister to the Mexican government in 1917. The message, which announced the beginning of unrestricted submarine warfare against Allied shipping, attempted to turn the sympathies of Mexico toward Germany with the promise of territorial rewards. The British decoded the message and leaked the contents to the US, hoping to provoke President Wilson to join WWI on the English side. Reading at a pace complementary to the author’s abundant flow of information, narrator Wanda McCaddon employs her award-winning talents to the fullest. She takes command of Tuchman’s prodigious vocabulary, making it sound comfortable and fluent. Her addition of appropriate foreign accents adds to the diplomatic intrigue.” —AudioFile