by: Margaret MacMillan

The first world war, a terrible conflict with an immeasurable price, has finally drawn to a close and the whole world, with little else left after the devastation of trench warfare and countries in peril, clings to the hope that the destruction will lead to a new and better tomorrow.  Just as war the likes of this had never been seen in living memory, perhaps there too would come a peace that would put to shame previous peace filled with other conflicts.

 In the prelude to the peace conference, the most powerful men in the world gathered in Paris, in 1919.  They sought out to resolve the world’s problems, and create a League of Nations that would do so thereafter, ensuring eternal peace.  From high up did they begin in their aspirations, and far had they fell from them by the end.  As we all know, by no means were all of the world’s problems resolved, and by no means was a perfect peace accomplished. Paris 1919documents the decisions, triumphs, and failures of these great men of the age in a magnificent book that contains a massive amount of information.  In providing both background information, often going back hundreds of years into an area’s history, MacMillan effectively provides us with a crash course on world history.  However, the extent to which the infomation has been compacted in order to make the volume (already sizable) a book and not a series means that one must read very carefully through text that is sometimes overwhelming.

What could very easily become a tedious history textbook is transformed into an informative, enjoyable, and overall readable text in part by MacMillan’s eye for irony, often mentioning a critics impossible alternative solution, or showing the alarming nature of powerful politics.  In one instance, it is decided against all expert advice that the Greeks should send troops to occupy the city of Smyra.  In this, Woodrow Wilson was “torn between his wish to act within the letter of the law, and his distaste for the Italians”, who wanted Smyra for themselves.  The troops are sent in, and battle betwen Attaturk and the Greek forces over the disputed territory ensues.

The narrative is also kept moving along with little sidenotes pointing out the hypocrosies and fabricated facts of people, delegations, and countries, such as the incident when, the British negotiator of the Turkey armistice promised that Constantinople would probably not be occupied.  As soon as word of this reached the peacemakers, they immediately set happily to discussing how the city had ought to be occupied.

Based off such tidbits, it would be easy to conclude that these powerful people were all hypocrites, but Paris 1919actually works to convince us otherwise.  The ins and outs of the infinite problems that were faced are explained, and we can follow these men, to whom Macmillan dedicates much time and space to introducing, through their conflicted decisions as they tried to remake the world.  Supremely informative, if rather dense at times, Paris 1919 is a very interesting book that is good as both a historical work and as a readable piece of narrative literature.

Four stars ****