Peacemakers: The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and Its Attempt to End War
Encyclopedia
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
historian Margaret MacMillan
Margaret MacMillan
Margaret Olwen MacMillan, OC is a historian and professor at the University of Oxford, where she is Warden of St. Antony's College. She is former provost of Trinity College and professor of history at the University of Toronto and previously, at Ryerson University...
with a foreword by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
diplomat Richard Holbrooke
Richard Holbrooke
Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke was an American diplomat, magazine editor, author, professor, Peace Corps official, and investment banker....
. The book has also been published under the titles Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World and Peacemakers: Six Months That Changed the World.
Peacemakers describes the six months of negotiations that took place in Paris, France following World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The book focuses on the "Big Three", photographed together on its cover (left to right): Prime Minister Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Premier Georges Clemenceau
Georges Clemenceau
Georges Benjamin Clemenceau was a French statesman, physician and journalist. He served as the Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909, and again from 1917 to 1920. For nearly the final year of World War I he led France, and was one of the major voices behind the Treaty of Versailles at the...
of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The book argues that the conditions imposed on Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
did not lead to the rise of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
. David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
is the author's great grandfather.
Reaction
The book was first published in Britain. It has won the Duff Cooper PrizeDuff Cooper Prize
The Duff Cooper Prize is a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of history, biography, political science or poetry, published in English or French. The prize was established in honour of Duff Cooper, a British diplomat, Cabinet member and acclaimed author. The prize was first awarded...
for an outstanding literary work in the field of history, biography or politics, the Hessell-Tiltman Prize
Hessell-Tiltman Prize
The Hessell-Tiltman History Prize is awarded to the best work of non-fiction of historical content covering a period up to and including WWII, and published in the year of the award. The books are to be of high literary merit but not primarily academic. The prize is organized by the United...
for History, the most prestigious Samuel Johnson Prize
Samuel Johnson Prize
The Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction is one of the most prestigious prizes for non-fiction writing. It was founded in 1999 following the demise of the NCR Book Award and based on an anonymous donation. The prize is named after Samuel Johnson...
for the best work of non-fiction published in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the 2003 Governor General's Literary Award
2003 Governor General's Awards
The 2003 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were announced on November 12. Each winner received a cheque for $15,000.-Fiction:*Douglas Glover, Elle*Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake*Elizabeth Hay, Garbo Laughs...
in Canada.
The book has been adapted as a 2009 docudrama
Docudrama
In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
by Paul Cowan, produced by the National Film Board of Canada
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
. MacMillan recorded a related series of fourteen lectures for the audiobook Six Months That Changed the World: The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 (Recorded Books, The Modern Scholar series, 2003).
Editions
- ISBN 0-7195-5939-1 UK Hardbound Edition (2001)
- ISBN 0-375-50826-0 US Hardbound Edition (2002) as Paris 1919: Six months that changed the world
- ISBN 0-375-76052-0 US Paperback Edition (2003) as Paris 1919: Six months that changed the world
- ISBN 0-7195-6237-6, ISBN 0-7195-6233-3 UK Paperback Edition (2003)