Peacemakers
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Amazon.co.uk Review
In the very first words of her prize-winning book, Peacemakers, Margaret Macmillan says, "In 1919 Paris was the capital of the world." In the aftermath of the First World War, the great and good of all nations were there to reshape the world. New nations sprang into existence during lunches in expensive Parisian hotels; borders that had lasted centuries were altered with the stroke of a pen; empires that had outlived their sell-by date were unceremoniously dismantled. Presiding over this wholesale remaking of the globe were Woodrow Wilson, Lloyd George and the French prime minister Georges Clemenceau.
Margaret Macmillan's pen portraits of the Big Three, and of many of the other extraordinary delegates to the Peace Conference--from Lawrence of Arabia to the Polish pianist and politician Ignace Paderewski--are superb. Her own writing is engagingly witty and she has a knack for finding apposite and funny quotes to enhance it. This is one of the very few books on diplomacy and international relations that can make a reader laugh out loud. The liveliness and vigour of her writing rests on the solid foundation of her wide-ranging knowledge. The delegates presumed not only to solve the problems of war-ravaged Europe but were happy to turn their attentions to Africa, the Middle East and China. Margaret Macmillan seems equally comfortable discussing the intricacies of Balkan boundaries, the creation of new states like Czechoslovakia, war between Greece and Turkey, Zionist settlement in Palestine, Japanese ambitions in the Pacific and a host of other subjects. Above all she works hard to be fair to the participants in the conference.
We know that an even more terrible war was only 20 years in the future. They didn't and they were all working sincerely to create a world in which war would be impossible. Macmillan is rightly dismissive of the notion that the peace devised at Paris was so flawed that another war was inevitable. Her book not only does justice to the Paris Peace Conference but it's also massively readable. That's quite an achievement. --Nick Rennison --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"Lively, fascinating and provocative." (Choice 20030412)
"Engagingly written and well-researched" (Stand To Magazine 20030412)
" Margaret MacMillian deservedly won the 2002 Samuel Johnson Prize for this book that has been reprinted in timely fashion" (Belgravia 20030412)
"Deserving winner of the Samuel Johnson Prize, this pacey and racy account of the statesmen who reshaped the world at the Paris conference of 1919 puts the dash back into diplomatic history" (THE INDEPENDENT Magazine 20030412)
"Every peacemaker sent to determine the future of Iraq should regard it as an essential piece of luggage" (THE GUARDIAN 20030412)
"Enthralling ... detailed, fair, unfailingly lively ... full of brilliant pen-portraits." Allan Massie. (Daily Telegraph 20060414)
"Exactly the sort of book I like: written with pace and flavoured with impudence based on solid scholarship." (Sunday Times 20060414)
"A fascinating piece of history." Tony Blair. (Guardian )
"Magnificent ... she gives a full, colourful and erudite description of the participants and their motives." Simon Heffer. (Literary Review )
'A terrific piece of writing ... full of wonderful insights and portraits of the statesmen and women of the day' (listed among 'My Six Best Books' by Chris Patten)
"Engagingly written and well-researched" (Stand To Magazine 20030412)
" Margaret MacMillian deservedly won the 2002 Samuel Johnson Prize for this book that has been reprinted in timely fashion" (Belgravia 20030412)
"Deserving winner of the Samuel Johnson Prize, this pacey and racy account of the statesmen who reshaped the world at the Paris conference of 1919 puts the dash back into diplomatic history" (THE INDEPENDENT Magazine 20030412)
"Every peacemaker sent to determine the future of Iraq should regard it as an essential piece of luggage" (THE GUARDIAN 20030412)
"Enthralling ... detailed, fair, unfailingly lively ... full of brilliant pen-portraits." Allan Massie. (Daily Telegraph 20060414)
"Exactly the sort of book I like: written with pace and flavoured with impudence based on solid scholarship." (Sunday Times 20060414)
"A fascinating piece of history." Tony Blair. (Guardian )
"Magnificent ... she gives a full, colourful and erudite description of the participants and their motives." Simon Heffer. (Literary Review )
'This is how to write history...so readable that it appeals as much to laymen who have never read a word of history as it does to specialists in the field' - Dan Snow ('My Six Best Books' column).
(Daily Express )'A terrific piece of writing ... full of wonderful insights and portraits of the statesmen and women of the day' (listed among 'My Six Best Books' by Chris Patten)
(Chris Patten, Daily Express )
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Without duplicating the other reviews, a good read which for me highlighted the disconnect between the old world order of backroom deals and verbal agreements which sustained empires lead by a relatively small political class, and the new world of nationalism and unsustainable expectations in the name of "self determination".
What comes shining through is the virtual chaos of the big three when it came to making and trying to sustain policy, and the way in which the smaller / emerging nations and sub-nations were able to manipulate these very powerful men to achieve their ends - most often in contradiction of some other verbal agreement made the afternoon before.
Enough of the serious stuff - an enjoyable read which kept the interest in the subject right to the end
What comes shining through is the virtual chaos of the big three when it came to making and trying to sustain policy, and the way in which the smaller / emerging nations and sub-nations were able to manipulate these very powerful men to achieve their ends - most often in contradiction of some other verbal agreement made the afternoon before.
Enough of the serious stuff - an enjoyable read which kept the interest in the subject right to the end
32 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book reads well and flows nicely, with plenty of lively quotations from Clemenceau, Lloyd George, Wilson and others, as well as some entertaining anecdotes, such as that concerning the Hungarian aristocrat hired by the Albanians whose main interest turned out to be in the tooth structure of dinosaurs. Very interesting, too, to read about the sheer insensitivity and arrogance of the German delegation after it arrived in Versailles to receive the peace terms. Inevitably, perhaps, it is stronger on some topics (Franco-German borders, Bolshevism, Poland) than others (the Balkans). But it does an excellent job in conveying the sense of a small group of statesmen battling against the odds not to let their instinctive mistrust of each other derail their task of reconstructing the world order. Measured against Wilson's 14 points, much of what they did was illogical or unjust. And there were serious miscalculations, such as the encouragement of Greek ambitions in Turkey. But could anyone have done it better?
25 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
An excellent and fascinating description of real politic in the days of big power hegemony. But buyers of the paperback edition should be aware that it does not contain the chapter notes , apparently by agreement between author and publisher. The result is a maddening frustration for the reader.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
brilliant
Anybody who is interested in the history of the 20th century should read this book. It is full of facts and personalities that influenced the course of European war and peace. Read more
Published 11 days ago by lizi
Pats review
Peacemakers Paris peace conferance I found this book to be very informative entertaining a really good book to read defiantly recommend to all amazon customers
Published 2 months ago by Will slow
Awful narrator's voice.
I guess one can't deny that Margaret Macmillan has really done her research, and has provided an excellent guide to the Paris Peace Treaty Conference, highlighting all the major... Read more
Published 14 months ago by autumnwinters
Masterly
A superb and very readable account of the policies and personalities of those who concocted the peace settlement at the end of the First World War. Read more
Published on 26 Jan 2010 by Ralph Blumenau
Gossipy and entertaining
Quite gossipy, which is something that traditionalists may object to. Still, it's interesting to know that Queen Marie of Romania was a shopaholic man-eater rather than just a... Read more
Published on 17 Jan 2010 by Dublin 4
Peacemakers by Margaret Macmillan
This book is highly readable, well written and informative concerning the attempts to broker a lasting world wide peace at the beginning of the 20th century. Read more
Published on 24 Nov 2009 by Geoffrey Guy Stephenson
They did their best - the great hope for toleration in 1919
500 pages that deserve 5 stars. They cover the personalities of the peacemakers, and the two realities in the 1919 world: the one in Paris and the other on the ground. Read more
Published on 6 Oct 2009 by Singapore Relic
Hardly revisionist
The Peacemakers promises to provide a fresh look at the Treaty of Versailles. Be warned that it only does so in a very limited sense. Read more
Published on 25 April 2008 by reader 451
Masterly
A superb and very readable account of the policies and personalities of those who concocted the peace settlement at the end of the First World War. Read more
Published on 22 Mar 2008 by Ralph Blumenau
They came to Paris to sort out Europe
The victors of World War I had the best intentions to succeed but they left Europe in a bigger mess than before. Read more
Published on 7 Sep 2007 by Thomas Koetzsch
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