5623. Peacemaking 1919, By Harold Nicolson (read 29 Apr 2019) This is a book first published in about 1933 and is in two parts. The first part is called "As It Seems Today" and the second part is called "As It Seemed Then." The first part, written in about 1933, is an account of the author's time at the 1919 peace conference . He tells of the events at Versailles and is pretty critical of the people running the conference, including Woodrow Wilson. He points out the things they did wrong and in general says the treaty drawn up was too harsh and that the Allies knew the terms of the treaty could not fail to bitterly dismay the Germans. The second part of the book is a diary which Nicolson kept while he was attending the peace conference. It too is filled with criticism of things which happened from January 1, 1919, to June 28, 1919, although it is not quite as critical of the events as he is in 1933. I did not enjoy the book much since it seemed pretty irrelevant after all these years. It made me feel how perspicacious FDR was to call during World War II for the unconditional surrender of the Axis powers. . The peace of 1919 lasted only 20 years but the peace following World War Ii did not see any resurgence of either Germany or Japan as hostile powers. I was surprised at some of the issues which concerned the peace makers in 1919, e.g., that the USA should take over Constantinople; or that Greece should. The book is not too pertinent to today's world but there are interesting insights into the history of the past. ( )

He knew about as much as anyone else. He almost cut the mustard with the decidedly discerning Cecil's - who even snooted at Churchill, Balfour, and of course looked down their noses at HGW. ( )