NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY
The New York Times Book Review • The Economist • The Christian
Science Monitor • Bloomberg Businessweek • The Globe and Mail
From the bestselling and award-winning author of Paris 1919 comes
a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction, a fascinating portrait of
Europe from 1900 up to the outbreak of World War I.
The century since the end of the Napoleonic wars had been the
most peaceful era Europe had known since the fall of the Roman
Empire. In the first years of the twentieth century, Europe
believed it was marching to a golden, happy, and prosperous
future. But instead, complex personalities and rivalries,
colonialism and ethnic nationalisms, and shifting alliances
helped to bring about the failure of the long peace and the
outbreak of a war that transformed Europe and the world.
The War That Ended Peace brings vividly to life the
leaders, politicians, diplomats, bankers, and the extended,
interrelated family of crowned heads across Europe who failed to
stop the descent into war: in Germany, the mercurial Kaiser
Wilhelm II and the chief of the German general staff, Von Moltke
the Younger; in Austria-Hungary, Emperor Franz Joseph, a man who
tried, through sheer hard work, to stave off the coming chaos in
his empire; in Russia, Tsar Nicholas II and his wife; in Britain,
King Edward VII, Prime Minister ert Asquith, and British
admiral Jacky Fisher, the fierce advocate of naval reform who
entered into the arms race with Germany that pushed the continent
toward confrontation on land and sea.
There are the would-be peacemakers as well, among them prophets
of the horrors of future wars whose warnings went unheeded:
Alfred Nobel, who donated his fortune to the cause of
international understanding, and Bertha von Suttner, a writer and
activist who was the first woman awarded Nobel’s new Peace Prize.
Here too we meet the urbane and cosmopolitan Count Harry Kessler,
who noticed many of the early signs that something was stirring
in Europe; the young Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the
Admiralty and a rising figure in British politics; Madame
Caillaux, who a man who might have been a force for peace;
and more. With indelible portraits, MacMillan shows how the
eful decisions of a few powerful people changed the course of
history.
Taut, suspenseful, and impossible to put down, The War That
Ended Peace is also a wise cautionary reminder of how wars happen
in spite of the near-universal desire to keep the peace. Destined
to become a classic in the tradition of Barbara Tuchman’s The
s of August, The War That Ended Peace enriches our
understanding of one of the defining periods and events of the
twentieth century.
Praise for The War That Ended Peace
“Magnificent . . . The War That Ended Peace will certainly rank
among the best books of the centennial crop.”—The Economist
“Superb.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Masterly . . . marvelous . . . Those looking to understand why
World War I happened will have a hard time finding a better place
to start.”—The Christian Science Monitor
“The debate over the war’s origins has raged for years. Ms.
MacMillan’s explanation goes straight to the heart of political
fallibility. . . . Elegantly written, with wonderful character
sketches of the key players, this is a book to be treasured.”—The
Wall Street Journal
“A magisterial 600-page panorama.”—Christopher Clark, London
Review of Books
- Used Book in Good Condition.