Customer Reviews

The First World War Peace Settlements, 1919-1925

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book, primarily due to its very short length (about 92 pages of text) and the incredible complexity of its topic, only provides a rudimentary discussion of its topic. It provides short chapters on the Treaty of Versailles, the resulting new nation states, the League of Nations, the Treaty of Locarno, the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean resulting from the war, the situation in the Far East resulting from the war and the Washington Naval Agreement. All and all quite a bit, especially considering the breadth of the topic and the fact that it is only 92 pages in length. The author does a fairly good job at summing these topics up in that 92 pages. However, because of length of book and complexity of topic he basically can only touch upon the topics. Thus for someone who has little or no knowledge the book would prove of some use. However, for those with more than a rudimentary knowledge the book would add very little, if anything, to their knowledge base.

Above the 92 pages of text, there is also a 30 some page appendix that covers many of the important speeches, documents, etc. referenced in the books main text. For example, there is the full speech of Wilsons on his 14 points made to Congress, Clemenceau's views of the Versailles Treaty well after it was signed, etc. All of these are quite interesting but unfortunately take up valuable space that could have been better used to elaborate on the main topics covered in the book (i.e., extend the book's paltry 92 pages of text). For example, Wilson's speech could have been summarized in a few paragraphs instead of being printed in full.