This book has gotten a lot of great reviews, so I must admit that it must just have been over my head. First of all, the subject matter has a dizzying amount of characters, theaters and events to keep track of. Secondly, this book was pretty academic and required more than a beginner's knowledge of the subject matter going in. That being the case, it took me over two months just to get halfway through it and at that point I realized that I was understanding and learning very little. I began reading The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman, which looks at the same subject but does it with more narrative and less dryness. I am nearly halfway through Tuchman's book after two days...the same point I was at in this book after two months.