CANADA AUTHOR · HISTORY · BIOGRAPHY
Margaret Olwen Macmillan
Also known as: Professor Margaret MacMillan, Margaret MacMillan
ON DECEMBER 4, 1918, the George Washington sailed out of New York with the American delegation to the Peace Conference on board.
— from Paris, 1919, 2006
Most acclaimed
History’s People
"In this year's highly anticipated Massey Lectures, internationally acclaimed historian Margaret MacMillan gives her own personal selection of the great figures of the past, women and men, who have changed the course of history and even directed the currents of their times--and sometimes with huge consequences, as in the cases of Hitler, Stalin, and Thatcher. She also acknowledges people such as Richard Nixon and George W. Bush who stubbornly went their own ways, often in defiance of their own societies. Then there are those like Samuel de Champlain, the dreamers, explorers, or adventurers who stand out in history for who they were as much as for what they did. Finally, there are the observers, such as Michel de Montaigne, who kept the notes and diaries that bring the past to life for us. History's People is about the important and complex relationship between biography and history, individuals and their times, and the transformative moments that have shaped the world today."--
Nixon in China
2006
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.
Dangerous Games
Margaret MacMillan, an acclaimed historian and "great storyteller" (The New York Review of Books), explores here the many ways in which history--its values and dangers--affects us all, including how it is used and abused. The New York Times bestselling author of Paris 1919 and Nixon and Mao reveals how a deeper engagement with history in our private lives and, more important, in the sphere of public debate can guide us to a richer, more enlightened existence, as individuals and nations. Alive with incident and figures both great and infamous, including Robespierre, Adolf Hitler, Winston Churchill, Mao Zedong, Karl Marx, Henry Kissinger, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, and George W. Bush, Dangerous Games explores why it is important to treat history with care.History is used to justify religious movements and political campaigns alike. The manipulation of history is increasingly pervasive in today's world. 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. Adolf Hitler, for instance, blamed the Jews for Germany's humiliation at Versailles and its defeat in World War I. It is imperative that we have an understanding of the past and avoid the all-too-common traps in thinking to which many fall prey--as MacMillan skillfully illuminates. This brilliantly reasoned work will compel us to examine history anew, including our own understanding of it, and our own closely held beliefs.From the Hardcover edition.