Margaret
MacMillan is the Greatest Diplomatic Historian of the Twentieth Century
Quite by accident, I picked up an unabridged audio
recording of Nixon and Mao: The Week that
Changed the World. It is an awesome book, riveting and jaw dropping. For anyone interested in mid-century American
history, not to mention the Vietnam War, this is a book not to be missed. It is
a description of America’s
historic opening with China, the shift from an anti-communist
foreign policy to one of accommodation. Just priceless.
So when my sister-in-law recommended 1919: Six Months that Changed the World I read it with interest and
gusto. It is the story of the Versailles
Peace Conference. Seeing as the current
troubles in Palestine, Syria and Iraq stem directly from the consequences of
that negotiation, it is essential reading for everyone from interested voters
to soldiers about to deploy. For anyone
interested in knowing why the world is the way it is, 1919 is a good place to start or finish.
Now comes
her latest masterpiece, The War That
Ended Peace, a history of the European diplomacy that preceded World War
I. This is the centennial year of World
War I. Seeing as the peace of the world
is still threatened by unresolved conflicts from that carnage, it would behoove
anyone interested in peace to give this gem a glance.
I was 300 pages into The War That Ended Peace when I learned
that Margaret MacMillan is the great granddaughter of David Lloyd George,
Britain’s Minister of Armaments and Prime Minister during World War I. Dr. Macmillan’s work is the distillation, not
just of a lifetime, but of an entire family and national history over
generations. Her personal experience gave her a heads-up on
where to look for crucial events.
Furthermore, Dr. MacMillan has
the perfect perspective for objective analysis.
As a Canadian, she comes from a nation that was a participant in all the
important conflicts, but in a minor, supporting role rather than as a major
decision-maker, so her national pride is not at risk. As a woman, she is, (pardon my sexist slant)
more conciliatory than most men and therefore better able to see, and therefore
explain, without making unwarranted judgments, how each party interpreted and
acted on events.
The world is indeed fortunate to have the skills and
dedication of Margaret MacMillan to relate and interpret many of the most
important events of the twentieth century.
She is doing God’s work. For
those of us who have the privilege of reading her books, it is as close to
being in heaven as we will come in this life.
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