Few historians have brought to their works the rich command of language and narrative displayed by Barbara Wertheim Tuchman. She has been outstandingly successful in attracting large and enthusiastic audiences to her writings on historical subjects, as demonstrated by the overwhelming public response to such works as The Guns of August, now translated into fourteen languages, and A Distant Mirror, one of the most absorbing accounts ever published of the 14th century. Mrs. Tuchman has been described as a brilliant literary stylist, first a writer – a storyteller – and then a historian. Yet her books are the product not only of an engaging style, but also of meticulous research and incisive selection of material. She has a unique gift for bringing to life the people and events of historically significant periods, thus enabling us to understand better the human experience of the past and how such happenings relate to today’s world.
The Cosmos Club takes pride in honoring Barbara Wertheim Tuchman, a cultivated and humane historian of integrity and literary achievement, with the Cosmos Club Award for 1983.