For more than half a century, it has been widely recognized that the Treaty of Versailles, founded on retribution against Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, created the circumstances that led inevitably to World War II. Less acknowledged and understood is the treaty?s profound impact on many other parts of the world?an impact that echoes to this day across Asia, the Balkans, and throughout the Middle East.

Includes maps of: Europe in 1914; East Central Europe in 1919; Europe in 1920; The Sykes Picot Agreement of 1916; The Middle East from the Treaty of Sevres (1920) to the Treaty of Lausanne (1923); China and the Pacific, 1914-1919. G-2 Reading List 2016.

Foreword by Sir Harold Evans--Up to the Minute: An Introduction--Acknowledgments--Prologue Inflection Pointss--Onward to Paris--Le Debut--Le Mistral--The State of the Jews--A Wicked Wind fromt he East--A Pair of Princes--All Aboard the Orient Express--Into the Balkan Soup--Greater Asian Insecurity--Setting Up a Global Economy--Where Did They All Go?--Maps--Bibliography--Index.