Jack Beatty great up listening to his father's memories of serving in WWI as a sailor on a ship torpedoed in the Bay of Biscay. He is a news analyst for "On Point," the public affairs program on National Public Radio, and the author of The Rascal King: The Life and Times of James Michael Curley, Colossus: How the Corporation Changed America, and Age of Betrayal: The Triumph of Money in America, 1865-1900. He lives in New Hampshire.
"Thought-provoking, and often mordantly ironic." --The New
Yorker"Beatty's achievement isn't so much in discovering new
material about World War I as it is in taking apart what is known
about 1914 and assembling it in a different form. We see, of
course, what might have been--but more important, we see, in a
different light, what was. It was a calamity." --David Shribman,
The Boston Globe"Beatty seeks to navigate the historiography of the
first great conflict of the twentieth century away from the
'metaphysical no-man's land of historical inevitability' and back
into the 'trenches of empiricism.'" --The New Statesman"Beatty...
captures the sweep of the events that gripped the world and
illuminates the epic arrogance, the paranoia, the pettiness and the
myopic self-serving views of the European heads of state who had
laid the cornerstone of a conflict that would lead to the deaths of
millions from Moscow to Maine." --Paul Collins, Nashua
Telegraph"Beatty has a great eye for the vivid details that reveal
character...'Downton Abbey' notwithstanding, the prewar era really
does seem like a lost time. Beatty manages to shed some light on
that receding era." --Michael Hill, The Associated Press"THE LOST
HISTORY OF 1914 brings alive much of the official world of a
century ago." --Bruce Ramsey, Seattle Times"Bold stuff...[An]
exuberant and bulging rag-bag of counter-factual history that
challenges the 'cult of inevitability' that Europe's war-leaders
were retrospectively so eager to embrace." --David Crane, The
Spectator"[A] startling study of what Woodrow Wilson called 'an
injury to civilization.'" --Eve Ottenberg, In These Times"Spritely,
captivating...[Beatty's book] delivers his signature storyteller's
insights. Hardly any writer working today can amass such an
enormous array of information and shape it all so effortlessly into
paragraph after compelling paragraph. The centennial of World War I
is bound to produce a tsunami of verbiage - and, if we're lucky,
some genuinely first-rate stuff. THE LOST HISTORY OF 1914...steals
a march on all of them. Highly recommended." --Steve Donoghue, Open
Letters Monthly"THE LOST HISTORY OF 1914 will leave its mark on how
we think about World War I and perhaps, beyond that, on how we
think about history and history in the making." --Harvey Blume, The
Arts Fuse
Thought-provoking, and often mordantly ironic. "The New Yorker"
Beatty's achievement isn't so much in discovering new material
about World War I as it is in taking apart what is known about 1914
and assembling it in a different form. We see, of course, what
might have been--but more important, we see, in a different light,
what was. It was a calamity. "David Shribman, The Boston Globe"
Beatty seeks to navigate the historiography of the first great
conflict of the twentieth century away from the 'metaphysical
no-man's land of historical inevitability' and back into the
'trenches of empiricism.' "The New Statesman" Beatty... captures
the sweep of the events that gripped the world and illuminates the
epic arrogance, the paranoia, the pettiness and the myopic
self-serving views of the European heads of state who had laid the
cornerstone of a conflict that would lead to the deaths of millions
from Moscow to Maine. "Paul Collins, Nashua Telegraph" Beatty has a
great eye for the vivid details that reveal character...'Downton
Abbey' notwithstanding, the prewar era really does seem like a lost
time. Beatty manages to shed some light on that receding era.
"Michael Hill, The Associated Press" "THE LOST HISTORY OF 1914"
brings alive much of the official world of a century ago. "Bruce
Ramsey, Seattle Times" Bold stuff...[An] exuberant and bulging
rag-bag of counter-factual history that challenges the 'cult of
inevitability' that Europe's war-leaders were retrospectively so
eager to embrace. "David Crane, The Spectator" [A] startling study
of what Woodrow Wilson called 'an injury to civilization.' "Eve
Ottenberg, In These Times" Spritely, captivating [Beatty's book]
delivers his signature storyteller's insights. Hardly any writer
working today can amass such an enormous array of information and
shape it all so effortlessly into paragraph after compelling
paragraph. The centennial of World War I is bound to produce a
tsunami of verbiage and, if we're lucky, some genuinely first-rate
stuff. "THE LOST HISTORY OF 1914 "steals a march on all of them.
Highly recommended. "Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Monthly" "THE
LOST HISTORY OF 1914" will leave its mark on how we think about
World War I and perhaps, beyond that, on how we think about history
and history in the making. "Harvey Blume, The Arts Fuse""
"Thought-provoking, and often mordantly ironic."--"The New
Yorker""Beatty's achievement isn't so much in discovering new
material about World War I as it is in taking apart what is known
about 1914 and assembling it in a different form. We see, of
course, what might have been--but more important, we see, in a
different light, what was. It was a calamity."--David Shribman,
"The Boston Globe""Beatty seeks to navigate the historiography of
the first great conflict of the twentieth century away from the
'metaphysical no-man's land of historical inevitability' and back
into the 'trenches of empiricism.'"--"The New Statesman""Beatty...
captures the sweep of the events that gripped the world and
illuminates the epic arrogance, the paranoia, the pettiness and the
myopic self-serving views of the European heads of state who had
laid the cornerstone of a conflict that would lead to the deaths of
millions from Moscow to Maine."--Paul Collins, "Nashua
Telegraph""Beatty has a great eye for the vivid details that reveal
character...'Downton Abbey' notwithstanding, the prewar era really
does seem like a lost time. Beatty manages to shed some light on
that receding era."--Michael Hill, "The Associated Press"""THE LOST
HISTORY OF 1914" brings alive much of the official world of a
century ago."--Bruce Ramsey, "Seattle Times""Bold stuff...[An]
exuberant and bulging rag-bag of counter-factual history that
challenges the 'cult of inevitability' that Europe's war-leaders
were retrospectively so eager to embrace."--David Crane, "The
Spectator""[A] startling study of what Woodrow Wilson called 'an
injury to civilization.'"--Eve Ottenberg, "In These
Times""Spritely, captivating...[Beatty's book] delivers his
signature storyteller's insights. Hardly any writer working today
can amass such an enormous array of information and shape it all so
effortlessly into paragraph after compelling paragraph. The
centennial of World War I is bound to produce a tsunami of verbiage
- an
"Many historians consider WWI to have been inevitable. Not so,
maintains Beatty, a news analyst on NPR's On Point ("Age of
Betrayal: The Triumph of Money in America, 1865-1900"), in this
delightfully contrarian account. If one of any number of events had
turned out differently, the war might not have been launched. Had
war been delayed a month, for instance, civil war over the bitter
Irish Home Rule controversy might have embroiled Britain. Russian
leaders agreed that war would provoke revolution, as it had in
1905. Yet in 1914, all mysteriously and disastrously changed their
minds. With far less reason, says Beatty, Germany's leaders also
feared revolution; many urged a military coup that would have
preoccupied the army. Every European belligerent disliked President
Wilson's quirky support of Mexican rebels under Pancho Villa (he
later reversed himself). This led to Germany's January 1917
Zimmermann telegram (which was intercepted by the British)
promising Mexico's dictator U.S. territory in exchange for invading
its northern neighbor. Beatty maintains that this, not Germany's
announcement of unrestricted submarine warfare, tipped the balance
in America in favor of war. Readers may find some arguments more
convincing than others, but they will thoroughly enjoy Beatty's
thoughtful, often discomforting opinions." --"Publishers Weekly"
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