1917: La paix impossible

In the conflict that marks the true birth of the 20th century, 1917 was the decisive year, with its two international earthquakes - the revelation of American power and the Bolshevik Revolution.

The war was no longer national but becoming ideological, and it was in the process of getting away from the Europeans; meanwhile a new world was appearing, wedged between two messianisms: Wilsonian idealism and communism.

1917 was primarily the year of exhaustion, when everyone sought an honorable way out. The French government began talks with Berlin; Austria-Hungary, in the person of Charles I, approached the Allies to find a transactional solution; even Pope Benedict XV had his own peace project.

Jean-Yves Le Naour lends his narrative talent to the cause of History and recounts this year of impossible peace. Based on unpublished archives and mingling the experiences of ordinary citizens with those of high-ranking officials, his book presents a comprehensive picture. It does not spare the great figures that posterity has turned into monuments. The failure of Ribot, then president of the Council in the negotiations with Austria, the disreputable maneuvers of Clemenceau to reach power, all is revealed. History related in this manner is more sensational than fiction.

With a doctorate in history, Jean-Yves Le Naour is a leading French specialist on the Great War. He is the author notably of Les soldats de la honte (Soldiers of Shame) (Perrin, 2011), for which he received the award for best history book in 2011, and of a series on World War I, with each year the topic of an authoritative volume.