Лучшие книги Маргарет Макмиллан

Всемирно известный историк, профессор Оксфордского университета Маргарет Макмиллан исследует причины развязывания Первой мировой войны, последовавшей после длительного периода мира в Европе, который, казалось, и впредь сулил ей процветание и прогресс. Автор рассматривает основные политические и технологические преобразования Европы за годы, предшествующие войне, то есть с конца XIX в. до августа 1914 г., когда был убит эрцгерцог Франц-Фердинанд. Анализируя идеи, чувства и решения, которые, выйдя из-под контроля, нарушили равновесие и привели Европу к катастрофе, Макмиллан дает яркое, образное описание участников событий и анализ мотивов их действий. Книга Маргарет Макмиллан - блистательное исследование и наиболее полный отчет о последних годах старой Европы.

After the war to end all wars, men and women from all over the world converged on Paris for the Peace Conference. At its heart were the three great powers - Woodrow Wilson, Lloyd George and Clemenceau - but thousands of others came too, each with a different agenda. Kings, prime ministers and foreign ministers with their crowds of advisers rubbed shoulders with journalists and lobbyists for a hundred causes, from Armenian independence to women's rights. Everyone had business that year - T.E. Lawrence, Queen Marie of Romania, Maynard Keynes, Ho Chi Minh. There had never been anything like it before, and there never has been since.;For six extraordinary months the city was effectively the centre of world government as the peacemakers wound 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, struggled with the problems of Kosovo, or the Kurds, and of a homeland for the Jews. The peacemakers, it has been said, failed dismally, and above all failed to prevent another war. Margaret MacMillan argues that they have been made scapegoats for the mistakes of those who came later. They tried to be evenhanded, but their goals could never in fact be achieved by diplomacy.

Acclaimed historian Margaret MacMillan explores here the many ways in which history affects us all. She shows how a deeper engagement with history, both as individuals and in the sphere of public debate, can help us understand ourselves and the world better. But she also warns that history can be misused and lead to misunderstanding. History is used to justify religious movements and political campaigns alike. Dictators may suppress history because it undermines their ideas, agendas, or claims to absolute authority. Nationalists may tell false, one-sided, or misleading stories about the past. Political leaders might mobilize their people by telling lies. It is imperative that we have an understanding of the past and avoid these and other common traps in thinking to which many fall prey. This brilliantly reasoned work, alive with incident and figures both great and infamous, will compel us to examine history anew—and skillfully illuminates why it is important to treat the past with care.

Війна показує найгірші і найкращі риси людської природи. Саме вона сформувала історію людства, наші соціальні й політичні інститути, цінності й ідеї. Мова, публічні місця, спогади та чимало культурних надбань — це спроба осмислити героїзм та біль війни.

Історикиня Маргарет Макміллан розглядає способи, якими війна вплинула на людське суспільство, і як зміни в політичній організації, технології чи ідеології вплинули на те, як і чому ми воюємо. Від античної історії до сьогодення Макміллан робить висновки з уроків минулих воєн і демонструє, що війна має багато облич.

In February 1972, Richard Nixon became the first American president to visit China. His historic one-hour meeting with Mao Zedong ended the breach between the United States and China, which had lasted since the Communist victory in 1949. Just as significantly, the visit changed the face of international relations from a bipolar Cold War to a three-sided struggle involving the Soviet Union, China, and the United States. Drawing on newly available material and interviews with all major survivors, MacMillan re-examines that fateful week. Authoritative and written with great narrative verve, Nixon in China is a landmark work of history.