Prior to the end of World War I, President Wilson gathered a group of expert geographers, historians, economists, and political scientists--The Inquiry--to make plans for the coming peace conference. The Inquiry produced a secret document, the Black Book, containing maps and plans for the territorial settlements to be negotiated. This secret plan was brought daily by the President into negotiations and much of it came to fruition on the world map. This work takes an in depth look at the Black Book and the lasting legacy of American negotiators at the Paris Peace Conference. --from publisher description.

Originally published in hardcover in 2012.

The inquiry & the 1919 Paris Peace Conference -- The black book : a blueprint for peace -- Negotiating borders part 1 : a survey of boundaries drawn in 1919 that survive today -- Negotiating borders part 2 : a survey of boundaries drawn in 1919 that have disappeared -- Negotiating borders part 3 : a survey of border proposals not adopted at the conference -- Legacies of the inquiry & the Paris Peace Conference -- Postscript : a world of nation-states?