(born 1943) is a historian and professor at Oxford University where she is Warden of St. Antony's College. MacMillan on the other hand covers the diplomats and politicians showing step by step how they had avoided war numerous time and why this occasion they failed. No trace of one here now. The logic of MacMillan’s argument is such that even now, as she leads us day by day, hour by hour through the aftermath of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, we expect some statesman or other to jump on the lighted fuse. The author has written a book exploring the aftermath of World War 1, "1919." There is a lot of great information here but you had better really be committed reader to get through all of this. At the bar, when others try to talk about the National Football League, I’m busy trying to kick-start an exc. An excellent read. Refresh and try again. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Do you think that Clarke's Sleepwalkers is a fairer book than MacMillan's? He and Macmillan are covering the same nine months leading up to the war. The War that Ended Peace: How Europe Abandoned Peace for the First World War. . It is almost exclusively focused on the European powers so is not as world inclusive as some of the other scholarship on pre WWI. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. . ― Margaret MacMillan, The War that Ended Peace: How Europe Abandoned Peace for the First World War. Focusing on the two decades before the war, MacMillan examines each of the major players in the conflict: France, Germany, Russia, Great Britain, and Austria-Hungary. 2014 by Professor Margaret MacMillan (Author) 4.5 out of 5 stars 694 ratings See all formats and editions It’s good information—given in great detail—but hard to stay interested in. . The appeal lies in a number of factors - the complex interaction of events, motives and personalities bears all the fascination of the most gripping of true crimes. In her introduction to a book that stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Barbara Tuchman’s landmark The Guns of August, Margaret MacMillan asks “what made 1914 so different” that European leaders were unable to back away from the precipice of general war, as they had so many times in the years following Napoleon’s exile? Buy, Oct 29, 2013 Please try again later. MacMillan does a good job of interweaving all the various crises, treaties, alliances, and threats, and if the fact that the war happened still doesn't make sense, at least it's possible to see the failure of imagination on the part of rulers, governments, and diplomats that made it possible. . . The War That Ended Peace will certainly rank among the best books of the centennial crop. The War That Ended Peace is a must-read book for our time.”—Lynne Olson, author of Those Angry Days “Once again, Margaret MacMillan proves herself not just a masterly historian but a brilliant storyteller. Given that there are few wasted words in this lengthy book, it was a wise decision to limit the discussions to those European powers. The War That Ended Peace begins with a scene-setting prologue on the Paris Exposition of 1900, a perfect symbol of contemporary pride in material and moral progress, a gathering "destined" – … It is a well-written history that I have read before – and may have formally reviewed although that is not of consequence now. A new crop of historians begin to plough the rich field of controversy, blame and nostalgia in search of new insights, or at least to fulfill the insatiable appetite of a new generation of readers. Scholarship on pre WWI: how Europe Abandoned Peace for the First years of the international crises shook... 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