1919: Red mirage

by David J. Mitchell

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1970

Reviews

[Christopher Saunders · Rating 3 out of 5]

David J. Mitchell's 1919: Red Mirage attempts, in a single 350 page volume, to examine the tumultuous events immediately following World War I. This overachieving book sketches a variety of diverse, interwoven subjects: the Versailles Peace Conference, Russian Revolution, Bolshevik government in Hungary, the early stirrings of Italian fascism, the Spartacist rising in Germany and bloody reaction, labor unrest in England and anticommunist repression in America, and other related topics. At its best, the book provides terse but compelling sketches of central figures, from the well-known to the obscure: I appreciated his pen portraits of Rosa Luxemburg, Germany's communist martyr; the swaggering Italian fascist poet-warrior Gabriele d'Annunzio, who led the coup d'etat in Fiume; the Ukranian anarchist Nestor Makhno and the hapless Hungarian revolutionary Bela Kun. It's useful to be reminded of so many tumultuous events erupting almost simultaneously, in a postwar world unmoored from its tether. Mitchell's scope is commendable but the book ultimately becomes self-defeating: Mitchell can't hope to provide anything like depth or insight in examining his subjects, granting only enough to whet the reader's appetite. The result is a riotous collage that's interesting, perhaps most of all as a springboard to further research, but ultimately unsatisfying.

[George Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite history books of all time but one that I don't see on many "top 10" lists. We hear a lot about the global upheaval of 1968.... but 1919 was radical and transformative across the planet. This was a fascinating read and I recommend it highly. You will find dozens of new topics you want to learn about by the time you are finished.