1913: In Search of the World Before the Great War

Today, we inevitably view 1913 through the lens of 1914: as the last year before a war that would shatter the global economic order and tear Europe apart. Yet hindsight can obscure as much--or more--than it reveals. In this illuminating history, Charles Emmerson liberates the world of 1913 from this [...]
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Today, we inevitably view 1913 through the lens of 1914: as the last year before a war that would shatter the global economic order and tear Europe apart. Yet hindsight can obscure as much--or more--than it reveals. In this illuminating history, Charles Emmerson liberates the world of 1913 from this "prelude to war" narrative and explores it as it was.
Traveling from Europe's capitals to Bombay, Tokyo, St. Petersburg, Winnipeg, Los Angeles, Peking, and beyond, Emmerson restores 1913 to contemporary freshness and illuminates a world more integrated and internationalized than we recall. A truly global economy had emerged for the first time, underpinned by the gold standard. New railroads, shipping routes, and cables made the world smaller. The first Model T-Ford drove off an assembly line. The Young Turks challenged the Ottoman Empire in Istanbul. Mass migration was fundamentally reshaping the globe's human geography.
Full of fascinating characters, stories, and insights, 1913 brings a lost world vividly back to life, with provocative implications for how we understand history and ourselves.