- Hardcover: 592 pages
- Publisher: John Murray Publishers Ltd (6 Sep 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0719559391
- ISBN-13: 978-0719559396
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16.3 x 5.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 646,882 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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
'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' byChris Patten) -- Chris Patten, Daily Express
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
No way to run the world...,
By
This review is from: Peacemakers Six Months That Changed the World: The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and Its Attempt to End War (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
31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An enjoyable read,
By A Customer
This review is from: Peacemakers: The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and Its Attempt to End War (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?
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
caution,
By A Customer
This review is from: Peacemakers: The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and Its Attempt to End War (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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