Overview

A revelatory new history that explores the tantalizing and almost-realized possibility that the First World War could have ended in 1916, saving millions of lives and utterly changing the course of history. In August 1916, two years into World War I, leaders in all the warring powers faced a crisis. There were no good military options. Money, people, and food were running short. Yet roads to peace seemed daunting too, as exhausted nations, drummed forward by patriotic duty and war passion, sought meaning from their appalling sacrifices. Germany made the first move. Its government secretly asked Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States and leader of the only great power still neutral, to mediate an end to the Great War. As a token of good faith, Germany promised to withdraw from occupied Belgium. Wilson too was anxious to make peace. If he failed, he felt sure America would drift into a dreadful, wider war. Meanwhile, the French president confided to Britain's King that the Allies should accept Wilson's expected peace move and end the war. In THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED, Philip Zelikow recounts the five months when, behind closed doors, the future of the war, and the world, hung in the balance. It is a story of civic courage, of awful responsibility, and of how some rose to the occasion or shrank from it. ""Peace is on the floor waiting to be picked up!"" pleaded the German ambassador to the United States. This book shows how right he was, and how close leaders came to doing so.

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9781541750951

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Reviews

Zelikow shines fresh light on a major historical crossroads.... Outstanding revisionist history demonstrating what could have been a far more peaceful 20th century. --Kirkus (starred review) What a well-wrought and haunting book this is. Philip Zelikow lucidly recounts and dissects how the worst consequences of the war of 1914-1918 almost came to be averted. He shows how leaders in both belligerent camps and the neutral United States strove mightily to end that conflict in 1916 and early 1917. This is a must-read book for understanding World War I and its consequences. --John M. Cooper Jr, Emeritus Professor University of Wisconsin-Madison The failure of Germany, Britain, and France halfway through World War I to reach a compromise peace mediated by Woodrow Wilson proved as disastrous for subsequent world history as the outbreak of the war itself. Philip Zelikow's enthralling narrative, with all the tautness of a mystery and based on thorough multinational research, unravels the earnest hopes, miscalculated tactics, and narrow political ambitions that all played a tragic role. Today's policy makers should ponder the lessons. --Charles Maier, Leverett Saltonstall Professor of History, Harvard University I read this book with unflagging interest, as my admiration for the carefulness of Zelikow's research and the nuance of his argument grew virtually by the page. This is a gripping, granular analysis of one of modern history's most fascinating and consequential might-have-beens, a must read for all practitioners and students of statecraft. --David M. Kennedy, Stanford University, Pulitzer and Bancroft Prize-winning author of Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War and Over Here: The First World War and American Society.

Despite the immense literature about World War I, there is, Zelikow attests, no history until now about this tragic impasse, making this supremely well-written work essential. --Booklist Marvelous. What a well-wrought and haunting book this is. Philip Zelikow lucidly recounts and dissects how the worst consequences of the war of 1914-1918 almost came to be averted. He shows how leaders in both belligerent camps and the neutral United States strove mightily to end that conflict in 1916 and early 1917. This is a must-read book for understanding World War I and its consequences. --John M. Cooper Jr, Emeritus Professor University of Wisconsin-Madison The failure of Germany, Britain, and France halfway through World War I to reach a compromise peace mediated by Woodrow Wilson proved as disastrous for subsequent world history as the outbreak of the war itself. Philip Zelikow's enthralling narrative, with all the tautness of a mystery and based on thorough multinational research, unravels the earnest hopes, miscalculated tactics, and narrow political ambitions that all played a tragic role. Today's policy makers should ponder the lessons. --Charles Maier, Leverett Saltonstall Professor of History, Harvard University Deeply researched and scathingly critical of the war's foremost political figures, this history offers an intriguing look at what might have been. --Publisher's Weekly I read this book with unflagging interest, as my admiration for the carefulness of Zelikow's research and the nuance of his argument grew virtually by the page. This is a gripping, granular analysis of one of modern history's most fascinating and consequential might-have-beens, a must read for all practitioners and students of statecraft. --David M. Kennedy, Stanford University, Pulitzer and Bancroft Prize-winning author of Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War and Over Here: The First World War and American Society. Zelikow shines fresh light on a major historical crossroads.... Outstanding revisionist history demonstrating what could have been a far more peaceful 20th century. --Kirkus (starred review)

In The Road Less Traveled, Zelikow brilliantly tells the diplomatic story of what he calls 'the lost peace' of August 1916-January 1917. --The New York Journal of Books The failure of Germany, Britain, and France halfway through World War I to reach a compromise peace mediated by Woodrow Wilson proved as disastrous for subsequent world history as the outbreak of the war itself. Philip Zelikow's enthralling narrative, with all the tautness of a mystery and based on thorough multinational research, unravels the earnest hopes, miscalculated tactics, and narrow political ambitions that all played a tragic role. Today's policy makers should ponder the lessons. --Charles Maier, Leverett Saltonstall Professor of History, Harvard University Despite the immense literature about World War I, there is, Zelikow attests, no history until now about this tragic impasse, making this supremely well-written work essential. --Booklist Marvelous. What a well-wrought and haunting book this is. Philip Zelikow lucidly recounts and dissects how the worst consequences of the war of 1914-1918 almost came to be averted. He shows how leaders in both belligerent camps and the neutral United States strove mightily to end that conflict in 1916 and early 1917. This is a must-read book for understanding World War I and its consequences. --John M. Cooper Jr, Emeritus Professor University of Wisconsin-Madison Deeply researched and scathingly critical of the war's foremost political figures, this history offers an intriguing look at what might have been. --Publisher's Weekly I read this book with unflagging interest, as my admiration for the carefulness of Zelikow's research and the nuance of his argument grew virtually by the page. This is a gripping, granular analysis of one of modern history's most fascinating and consequential might-have-beens, a must read for all practitioners and students of statecraft. --David M. Kennedy, Stanford University, Pulitzer and Bancroft Prize-winning author of Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War and Over Here: The First World War and American Society. Zelikow shines fresh light on a major historical crossroads.... Outstanding revisionist history demonstrating what could have been a far more peaceful 20th century. --Kirkus (starred review)

What a well-wrought and haunting book this is. Philip Zelikow lucidly recounts and dissects how the worst consequences of the war of 1914-1918 almost came to be averted. He shows how leaders in both belligerent camps and the neutral United States strove mightily to end that conflict in 1916 and early 1917. This is a must-read book for understanding World War I and its consequences. --Professor John M. Cooper, What a well-wrought and haunting book this is. Philip Zelikow lucidly recounts and dissects how the worst consequences of the war of 1914-1918 almost came to be averted. He shows how leaders in both belligerent camps and the neutral United States strove mightily to end that conflict in 1916 and early 1917. This is a must-read book for understanding World War I and its consequences. I read this book with unflagging interest, as my admiration for the carefulness of Zelikow's research and the nuance of his argument grew virtually by the page. This is a gripping, granular analysis of one of modern history's most fascinating and consequential might-have-beens, a must read for all practitioners and students of statecraft. --David M. Kennedy, Stanford University, Pulitzer and Bancroft Prize-winning author of Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War and Over Here: The First World War and American Societ, I read this book with unflagging interest, as my admiration for the carefulness of Zelikow?s research and the nuance of his argument grew virtually by the page. This is a gripping, granular analysis of one of modern history?s most fascinating and consequential might-have-beens, a must read for all practitioners and students of statecraft.

Author Information

Phillip Zelikow is is the White Burkett Miller Professor of History and J. Wilson Newman Professor of Governance at the Miller Center of Public Affairs, both at the University of Virginia. A former career diplomat, he was the executive director of the 9/11 Commission. He worked on international policy in each of the five administrations from Reagan through Obama. Philip Zelikow lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.

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