CHARLES EMMERSON was born in Australia and grew up in London. After graduating top of his class in Modern History from Oxford University he took up an Entente Cordiale scholarship to study international relations and international public law in Paris. The author of The Future History of the Arctic (2010), he writes and speaks widely on international affairs. He is a Senior Research Fellow at Chatham House (the Royal Institute for International Affairs).
Majestic and cliche-defying -- Sheena McDonald Herald Presents the true nature of the time, poised in hope Discover Britain Every so often a book comes along that simply must be read. 1913 is such a work. Luminous and majestic, rich in detail and stunning in its depth of research, 1913 is a sweeping and haunting portrait of the world on the edge of the precipice. Read this book, but be prepared to stifle at the end of every page an urge to scream out a warning to those long since dead that they must take another road -- Wade Davis Charles Emmerson explores an endlessly interesting question: How did the great glossy world of the European Empires come to grief in 1914? This is a most elegantly written book and should stand comparison with the much older classic, Barbara Tuchman's The Proud Tower -- PROFESSOR NORMAN STONE, author of World War One: A Short History A masterful, comprehensive portrait of the world at that last moment in its history. -- David Crane Spectator