Peacemakers: The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and Its Attempt to End War [Hardcover]

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.

'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

"Engagingly written and well-researched" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

" Margaret MacMillian deservedly won the 2002 Samuel Johnson Prize for this book that has been reprinted in timely fashion" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

"Every peacemaker sent to determine the future of Iraq should regard it as an essential piece of luggage" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

"Enthralling ... detailed, fair, unfailingly lively ... full of brilliant pen-portraits." Allan Massie. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

"Exactly the sort of book I like: written with pace and flavoured with impudence based on solid scholarship." --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

"A fascinating piece of history." Tony Blair. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

"Magnificent ... she gives a full, colourful and erudite description of the participants and their motives." Simon Heffer. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

After the war to end all wars, men and women from all over the world converged on Paris for the Peace Conference. At its heart were the three great powers - Woodrow Wilson, Lloyd George and Clemenceau - but thousands of others came too, each with a different agenda. Kings, prime ministers and foreign ministers with their crowds of advisers rubbed shoulders with journalists and lobbyists for a hundred causes, from Armenian independence to women's rights. Everyone had business that year - T.E. Lawrence, Queen Marie of Romania, Maynard Keynes, Ho Chi Minh. There had never been anything like it before, and there never has been since.;For six extraordinary months the city was effectively the centre of world government as the peacemakers wound up bankrupt empires and created new countries. This book brings to life the personalities, ideals and prejudices of the men who shaped the settlement. They pushed Russia to the sidelines, alienated China and dismissed the Arabs, struggled with the problems of Kosovo, or the Kurds, and of a homeland for the Jews. The peacemakers, it has been said, failed dismally, and above all failed to prevent another war.Margaret MacMillan argues that they have been made scapegoats for the mistakes of those who came later. They tried to be evenhanded, but their goals could never in fact be achieved by diplomacy.

Margaret Macmillan has a doctorate from St Antony's College, Oxford, and is a professor of history at Ryerson University in Toronto. Her previous books include Women of the Raj and Canada and NATO.