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A review by chewdigestbooks
1917: Lenin, Wilson, and the Birth of the New World Disorder by Arthur Herman
4.0
Honesty time, Not much of this was new to me and there were times that it read as slow as molasses, maybe because of that.
BUT, the conclusions about Wilson were insightful and in line with what I have always thought. They were the true golden nuggets Herman's work.
In a nutshell, his actions have always seemed noble; it was his stubbornness, the ideals of upbringing in the Protestant faith and bigotry that really failed him. They failed him and the believers in him then and they fail a deeper inspection now. You can't run around proclaiming that you stand for the people's of the world when you don't even count many of them as people, you can't get along in life without compromise, and newsflash, no one is always right.
Wilson was indeed caught between a rock and a hard place and near the end obviously in poor health. His 14 Points were good and eventually, they were one of the things that led to the concept of the United Nations. Still, United or League implies a group think that he was never going to be able to stomach. Every time I hear someone list Wilson as one of their favorite presidents, I either cringe and zip my lip or get on my soapbox, it depends on the audience.
If this is your first introduction into the Revolution of 1917, you can't go wrong. It was in no way smooth like many assume and Lenin was not guaranteed or even really involved in the beginning. Surprised? Then you need to read this....soon!
BUT, the conclusions about Wilson were insightful and in line with what I have always thought. They were the true golden nuggets Herman's work.
In a nutshell, his actions have always seemed noble; it was his stubbornness, the ideals of upbringing in the Protestant faith and bigotry that really failed him. They failed him and the believers in him then and they fail a deeper inspection now. You can't run around proclaiming that you stand for the people's of the world when you don't even count many of them as people, you can't get along in life without compromise, and newsflash, no one is always right.
Wilson was indeed caught between a rock and a hard place and near the end obviously in poor health. His 14 Points were good and eventually, they were one of the things that led to the concept of the United Nations. Still, United or League implies a group think that he was never going to be able to stomach. Every time I hear someone list Wilson as one of their favorite presidents, I either cringe and zip my lip or get on my soapbox, it depends on the audience.
If this is your first introduction into the Revolution of 1917, you can't go wrong. It was in no way smooth like many assume and Lenin was not guaranteed or even really involved in the beginning. Surprised? Then you need to read this....soon!