The Illusion of Victory with Thomas Fleming
Thomas Fleming undertakes nothing less than a drastic revision of our experience in World War I. The title tells a lot of the story. The Illusion of Victory, America in World War I. Fleming reveals how we got into the war, mostly because Woodrow Wilson thought it was an opportunity to save the world; the British and French duped Wilson into thinking the war was as good as won, and there would be no need to send an army overseas. Fleming expertly details a harried president making speech after speech proclaiming America's ideals while supporting espionage and sedition acts that sent critics to federal prisons. We follow Wilson to the peace conference that followed, and the terrible treaty it produced; by that time many people realized our victory was an illusion. It soon proved more than that -- becoming a nightmare peopled by Hitler and Stalin. Thoroughly researched and dramatically told, The Illusion of Victory offers compelling testimony to the power of a president's visionary ideals-as well as a starkly cautionary tale about the dangers of applying them in a war-maddened world.
A former president of the Society of the American Historians, and a frequent guest on C-Span, PBS, A&E, and the History Channel, Thomas Fleming has written a series of revisionist masterworks, which have altered our understanding of the American Revolution, including: 1776: Year of Illusions, Washington’s Secret War, The Hidden History of Valley Forge, and The Perils of Peace.
6:00pm, cash bar reception; 6:30pm lecture, gratis. Copies of The Illusion of Victory will be available for purchase at the event. Advance reservations required. The post-program dinner with Mr. Fleming has sold out; if you wish to be added to the wailist, contact 212.692.1381.
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