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Paris 1919
Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World | Margaret MacMillan
10 posts | 5 read | 3 reading | 13 to read
Winner of the Samuel Johnson Prize Winner of the PEN Hessell Tiltman Prize Winner of the Duff Cooper Prize Between January and July 1919, after the war to end all wars, men and women from around the world converged on Paris to shape the peace. Center stage, for the first time in history, was an American president, Woodrow Wilson, who with his Fourteen Points seemed to promise to so many people the fulfillment of their dreams. Stern, intransigent, impatient when it came to security concerns and wildly idealistic in his dream of a League of Nations that would resolve all future conflict peacefully, Wilson is only one of the larger-than-life characters who fill the pages of this extraordinary book. David Lloyd George, the gregarious and wily British prime minister, brought Winston Churchill and John Maynard Keynes. Lawrence of Arabia joined the Arab delegation. Ho Chi Minh, a kitchen assistant at the Ritz, submitted a petition for an independent Vietnam. For six months, Paris was effectively the center of the world as the peacemakers carved 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. They struggled with the problems of Kosovo, of the Kurds, and of a homeland for the Jews. The peacemakers, so it has been said, failed dismally; above all they failed to prevent another war. Margaret MacMillan argues that they have unfairly been made the scapegoats for the mistakes of those who came later. She refutes received ideas about the path from Versailles to World War II and debunks the widely accepted notion that reparations imposed on the Germans were in large part responsible for the Second World War. A landmark work of narrative history, Paris 1919 is the first full-scale treatment of the Peace Conference in more than twenty-five years. It offers a scintillating view of those dramatic and fateful days when much of the modern world was sketched out, when countries were createdIraq, Yugoslavia, Israelwhose troubles haunt us still. From the Hardcover edition.
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FxLotus

As one Serbian government official told him cheerfully, there would be no difficulty managing the Bosnian Muslims. The Serbian army would give them twenty-four-no, perhaps even forty-eight hours to return to the Orthodox faith. “Those who don‘t will be killed, as we have done in our time in Serbia. “ Regarding the Balkans and the state of Yugoslavia page 115.

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FxLotus

Only three of the “Big Four” get an introductory chapter, poor Vitorrio Orlando

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Purpleness
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Kelly_the_Bookish_Sidekick He must be fun at parties! 🤣 4y
38 likes1 comment
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Purpleness
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This is actually a serious book, but every so often there is a sentence that just makes me laugh. 😂

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Purpleness
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PurpleTulipGirl Wow...that doesn‘t sound familiar AT ALL. 😒 4y
38 likes1 comment
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Purpleness
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LiteraryMind
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Some days are harder than others, and at times, it‘s hard to carry on. However, what is good about peace is that it is never hard to find and always beside us whether it comes from ourselves or from the loved ones that have blessed us with their presence. #FindingPeace #HopeInFrontOfMe

review
writerlibrarian
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Pickpick

Clear and engaging. The players, the behind the scenes games, the who's who of the political time. It's a good introduction to the time and the consequences of the decisions taken in that faithful year that are still influencing the way our world is, almost 100 years later. I learned at lot and it gave me paths to look for more reading. #Recommended.

Andrew65 Perfect accompaniment to my suggestion for the peace tag, a thriller set at the 1919 Peace Conference. Ways of the World by Robert Goddard. (edited) 7y
writerlibrarian @Andrew65 I didn't know about the Robert Goodard added it to my TBR. Thanks 7y
Andrew65 @writerlibrarian Hope you enjoy it. The whole trilogy is excellent and takes you in some journey from Scotland to Japan.Most of the first book is set at the conference. 7y
31 likes3 comments
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writerlibrarian
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Winner of multiple prizes. It is also edited under the title "Paris 1919". It's a must read to understand what the world was after the Great War and how it still shapes our world now. #maybookflowers #peace

JazzFeathers Sounds right up my alley in this moment! 7y
31 likes1 stack add1 comment
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susanw
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Heads of state, meeting for 6 months to knock out a peace accord and what the new world is to look like? There was politics involved for sure! #augustphotochallenge @TheSpinecrackersBookClub

Gleefulreader True story: she was my husband's university professor many years ago. He absolutely loved her courses (even though they weren't part of his major) and she was apparently a fantastic teacher. 8y
susanw @Gleefulreader that is very cool! Great teachers really make a difference. 8y
59 likes2 stack adds2 comments