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Margaret MacMillan and World War One

Margaret MacMillan is one of the world's leading scholars on World War One. Her books Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World and The War That Ended Peace: The Road to 1914 are award-winning bestsellers. She talks with host Paul Kennedy about the origins of the war and what we've learned -- and failed to learn -- from...
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Margaret MacMillan in the St. Antony's College library in Oxford, England, where she is Warden. MacMillan is an expert on World War I and frequently lectures on the subject in conferences around the world. (Lefteris Pitarakis/The Associated Press) (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Ideas53:59Margaret MacMillan and World War One

Margaret MacMillan is one of the world's leading scholars on World War One. Her books Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World and The War That Ended Peace: The Road to 1914 are award-winning bestsellers. She talks with host Paul Kennedy about the origins of the war and what we've learned -- and failed to learn -- from it.
 

I don't think history offers any clear lessons about how to live your life. And I don't think it will ever offer blueprints for the future. What I will say for history is that knowing something about the past will help you both to understand other people, and yourself.Margaret MacMillan


Almost exactly 100 years ago, Archduke Franz Ferdinand -- heir to the throne of Austria, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire -- was assassinated in Sarajevo. Less than five weeks later, the world was embroiled in total warfare.  Margaret MacMillan's somewhat unique take on the First World War is that it was not only sad, it was unnecessary.

Margaret MacMillan is currently the Warden of St. Anthony's College, at Oxford University, in England.


Related Links:

  • For more on WW1, check out Q's special on WW1 looking at how the Great War shaped culture and how it reverberates today. Guests include cartoonist Pat Mills, author and Iraq war vet Phil Klay and journalist and historian Robert Fisk.