Description
Book SynopsisJan Christian Smuts was one of the key figures behind the creation of the League of Nations; Woodrow Wilson was inspired by his ideas on the League and borrowed heavily from them, including the mandates scheme, whereby South Africa took responsibility for Namibia. Alarmed at the turn that peacemaking was taking, Smuts took the lead in urging moderation on reparations and Germany's frontiers with Poland and pleaded for a magnanimous peace, warning that the treaty of Versailles would lead to another war. Declaring I return to South Africa a defeated man', Smuts encouraged Keynes to write The Economic Consequences of the Peace, and denounced the occupation of the Ruhr in 1923. He became Prime Minister of South Africa and a leading Commonwealth statesman. He made important contributions to the British cause in the Second World War and was instrumental in the establishment of the United Nations.
Trade Review'As this excellent book powerfully shows, he was a man of exceptional broad-mindedness, moral (and physical) courage, realistic wisdom happily married to idealism, admired and almost revered by major figures in Europe, and driven by a highly positive dynamism, all inspired by a passionate longing for, simply, a better world...' 'A great strength of this book is the fact that about 40% of it is made up of quotations - most from Smuts's own writings and speeches, but many uttered by leading British and European figures who knew him, and some by members of his family. The author mostly allows the characters to speak for themselves, which gives his account great solidity. A fascinating and inspiring read.' -- David Pike The Wittnes 20100922 'This excellent book by Anthony Lentin is in a series which concentrates on the men (including Smuts) who shaped the Paris Peace Conference after the First World War. Lentin not only describes Smuts' contribution in Paris, but he also outlines his life from farm boy of the Western Cape to his state funeral in Pretoria 80 years later. Lentin does this in less than 200 pages (excluding references and the index), which is a tribute to his clear, elegant and economical English style.' -- James Barber South African Journal of International Affairs
