Margaret MacMillan received her Ph.D. from Oxford University and is provost of Trinity College and professor of history at the University of Toronto. Her previous books include Women of the Raj and Canada and NATO. Published as Peacemakers in England, Paris 1919 was a bestseller chosen by Roy Jenkins as his favorite book of the year. It won the Samuel Johnson Prize, the PEN Hessell Tiltman Prize, and the Duff Cooper Prize and was a finalist for the Westminster Medal in Military Literature. MacMillan, the great-granddaughter of David Lloyd George, lives in Toronto.
“The history of the 1919 Paris peace talks following World War I is
a blueprint of the political and social upheavals bedeviling the
planet now. . . . A wealth of colorful detail and a concentration
on the strange characters many of these statesmen were keep
[MacMillan’s] narrative lively.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“MacMillan’s book reminds us of the main lesson learned at such a
high cost in Paris in 1919: Peace is not something that can be
imposed at the conference table. It can grow only from the hearts
of people.”
—Los Angeles Times
“Beautifully written, full of judgment and wisdom, Paris 1919 is a
pleasure to read and vibrates with the passions of the early
twentieth century and of ours.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“MacMillan is a superb writer who can bring history to life.”
—The Philadelphia Inquirer
“For anyone interested in knowing how historic mistakes can morph
into later historic problems, this brilliant book is a
must-read.”
—Chicago Tribune
In an ambitious narrative, MacMillan (history, University of Toronto) seeks to recover the original intent, constraints, and goals of the diplomats who sat down to hammer out a peace treaty in the aftermath of the Great War. In particular, she focuses on the "Big Three" Wilson (United States), Lloyd George (Great Britain), and Clemenceau (France) who dominated the critical first six months of the Paris Peace Conference. Viewing events through such a narrow lens can reduce diplomacy to the parochial concerns of individuals. But instead of falling into this trap, MacMillan uses the Big Three as a starting point for analyzing the agendas of the multitude of individuals who came to Versailles to achieve their largely nationalist aspirations. Following her analysis of the forces at work in Europe, MacMillan takes the reader on a tour de force of the postwar battlefields of Asia and the Middle East. Of particular interest is her sympathy for those who tried to make the postwar world more peaceful. Although their lofty ambitions fell prey to the passions of nationalism, this should not detract from their efforts. This book will help rehabilitate the peacemakers of 1919 and is recommended for all libraries. Frederic Krome, Jacob Rader Marcus Ctr. of the American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
"The history of the 1919 Paris peace talks following World War I is
a blueprint of the political and social upheavals bedeviling the
planet now. . . . A wealth of colorful detail and a concentration
on the strange characters many of these statesmen were keep
[MacMillan's] narrative lively."
-The New York Times Book Review
"MacMillan's book reminds us of the main lesson learned at such a
high cost in Paris in 1919: Peace is not something that can be
imposed at the conference table. It can grow only from the hearts
of people."
-Los Angeles Times
"Beautifully written, full of judgment and wisdom, Paris
1919 is a pleasure to read and vibrates with the passions of
the early twentieth century and of ours."
-San Francisco Chronicle
"MacMillan is a superb writer who can bring history to life."
-The Philadelphia Inquirer
"For anyone interested in knowing how historic mistakes can morph
into later historic problems, this brilliant book is a
must-read."
-Chicago Tribune
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