Las personas de la historia

by Margaret MacMillan, María Sierra (Translator)

La gran historiadora Margaret MacMillan, autora del bestseller internacional '1914. De la paz a la guerra' (2013), nos presenta su selección personal de las figuras del pasado, hombres y mujeres, algunos famosos y otros menos conocidos, que en su opinión destacan como “personas que hicieron historia”.

MacMillan examina el concepto de liderazgo a través de Bismarck y su papel en la unificación de Alemania, William Lyon Mackenzie King en la defensa de la unidad canadiense, y Franklin D. Roosevelt en la política estadounidense durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, y señala los grandes errores o decisiones destructivas de dirigentes totalitarios como Hitler y Stalin, o democráticos como Nixon y Thatcher.

También hay espacio para soñadores y aventureros y personalidades únicas menos conocidas pero cruciales en su época. Este libro trata de la relación importante y compleja que establecen la biografía y la historia, los individuos y su tiempo.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Politics, Canada, World History, Biography Memoir

296 pages, Paperback

First published September 8, 2015

About the author

Margaret Olwen MacMillan OC D.Phil. (born 1943) is a historian and professor at Oxford University where she is Warden of St. Antony's College. She is former provost of Trinity College and professor of history at the University of Toronto. A well-respected expert on history and current affairs, MacMillan is a frequent commentator in the media.

-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Marianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Our understanding and enjoyment of the past would be impoverished without its individuals, even though we know history’s currents – its underlying forces and shifts, whether of technology or political structures or social values – must never be ignored”

History’s People: Personalities and the Past is the eleventh book by Canadian author and historian, Margaret MacMillan, and comprises the 2015 Massey Lectures. As well as a general commentary on the people that make and record history, MacMillan focusses on certain individuals, examining their role in history. Readers may be intrigued to find that MacMillan groups together Woodrow Wilson, Margaret Thatcher, Stalin and Hitler under a common banner, analysing their leadership successes and failures.

MacMillan looks at people who took advantage of favourable circumstances, people who made their own beneficial circumstances, people with a knack for judging when the time was right, people who achieved by virtue of believing in themselves and their cause, and people who recorded events around them. Leaders, pioneers, explorers, entrepreneurs and meticulous diarists all feature.

MacMillan tells us: “…we should never forget that the people of the past were as human as we are….we recognize in the people of the past familiar characteristics; they too had ambitions and fears, loves and hates…” and also that “Women have been some of the great adventurers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, perhaps because they were tempered and toughened by overcoming the obstacles society placed in the way of their sex”

In her final chapter, we are told: “It is the interplay between individuals and their worlds that makes history and brings it to life for those of us in the present”. People who have an interest in modern history will enjoy this outstanding and very comprehensive collection of lectures. MacMillan includes a 17-page index and, for readers whose interest is piqued by a particular character, an 18-page section on sources and further reading. An exceptional read.
3.5 ★s

[Bibi · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, MacMillan is sharing history with us in a unique way. At first, I thought she will dedicate sections of the book to the various personalities she chose to feature in the book. Instead, once I opened the book, I realized that she has assigned them to little boxes labelled Hubris, Daring, Curiosity, Observers and Persuasion & the Art of Leadership.

I did not find the first part engrossing and that is because I already have some knowledge about FDR, Nixon, Hitler, Stalin, Margaret Thatcher, Winston Churchill etc. but it is still interesting how she distilled their personalities. There is good representation of Canada through the likes of Mackenzie King and Samuel de Champlain. Throughout the book, MacMillan refers to the possibility how different the world may have turned out or differently history may have been written. There is much musing of what if or what it would be if there was no such and such.

Like MacMillan, I too "like the details of long-gone people: what they wore or ate, who they loved and hated". I am always keen to read about what drives people; what made some, incredible leaders and others, despicable dictators. I enjoyed reading of the powerful; it is like a kind of celebrity gossip from years gone by and it was this curiosity that led me to her book.

I particularly like the latter part of the book which featured some incredible women who I knew little of. They include:

• Edith Durham and her role for an independent Albania
• Gertrude Bell aka the Desert Queen and her role in the formation of Iraq
• Mrs Simcoe whose husband helped to establish what is now Toronto.
• Fanny Parkes and her memoirs which provided insights of the Raj period in India.

It is interesting that she was able to piece together much of history by reading the records they left behind - memoirs, diaries, letters. As she indicated: "Without their records, our knowledge of the past would be so much poorer".

I know that I would share the same glee as this author when she confessed: "there is always something pleasurable in doing what one ought not to do in ordinary life, and that is read the private letters and diaries of others all in the name of research". I thank the author for doing all the hard work and for publishing her book which has a great section at the end for further readings on anyone or any event which may pique the readers' interest.

This book is not a who dunnit or drama or romance. It is history distilled through personalities so not everyone may like it but I did (4 stars).

[Robert Meyro · Rating 2 out of 5]

A disappointing read following The War That Ended Peace , another book of Margaret MacMillan's.
Although the intention of the book was likely to be an enjoyable read with some interesting anecdotes here and there, I found there to be little insight into any of the historical figures covered. Might as well have just looked them up on Wikipedia.

[Rafa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pinceladas, breves retratos de personas que hicieron, crearon o narraron historia.
MacMillan narra con agilidad y sencillez pequeñas reseñas que nos recuerdan que la historia son algo más que tendencias y grandes corrientes y que sin determinadas personas el mundo de hoy sería otro.
El libro se lee con facilidad gracias a la capacidad narradora de la autora pero uno tiene la sensación de quedarse corto. Después de leer sus libros sobre Versalles y el comienzo de la Primera Guerra Mundial me esperaba más y me quedo con la sensación de haberme divertido, que no es poco, pero sin haber sacado algo más. Tengo la sensación de que se trata de un "libro de encargo" que trató de aprovechar el tirón logrado por la autora con sus anteriores obras, incrementado al conocer que se basa en diversas conferencias y discursos realizados a lo largo del tiempo.
Me quedo con la loa al individuo sin el que la historia no sería tal.

[Aloke · Rating 4 out of 5]

History through the lens of individual experience. Thank goodness for historical diarists and historians like MacMillan who read them.

[Brooke Mackenzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book as it introduces new historic figures for me to explore. Some of the people mentioned I have studied many times in numerous classes but others I had never heard of and I was intrigued by there stories.



The author inserts a lot of her own opinions into the book. Normally this didn’t bother me, but in some ways I would have liked to form more of my own opinion on the stories she shared. My only dislike is the authors positive view on how Canada became a country— it wasn’t a “peaceable evolution”. She makes it seem like the indigenous peoples, French, and British all had a fun time getting along.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that aligns very closely to my own views on the role of the individual in history. Especially noteworthy are the passages on women whose stories have been lost to history; Margaret MacMillan manages to bring them deservedly to light once again. An easy, informative, flowing read that leaves the reader in a contemplative mood.

[Barbara McEwen · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I finished this as well as I could considering I had a copy that duplicated 50 pages, so I effectively lost 50 pages. Oh well!

I had initially picked this up because I heard Margaret MacMillan on CBC radio (maybe these lectures even?) and thought she was fascinating but was worried the neighbours would start to worry if I never got out of my car and just sat there all creepy like.

This book is based on her Massey lectures so I was hopeful it would be nice and accessible for plebians like me, who are intimidated by giant history tomes. Turns out you should probably listen to the Massey lectures online though.
The book was ok, and I learned a few interesting tidbits of history but the format that worked for the lectures didn't work in the book. You get random people from random time periods thrown together. They are supposed to be connected by their traits like hubris or daring, but it all gets very confusing. I would imagine without understanding her audience for the Massey lectures people would be confused by the seemingly random Canadian personalities thrown in with some very famous people too. Ha, ha, people, surprised you by forcing some Canadian history on you eh? I love Canada, don't get me wrong, but even a patriotic Canadian such as myself can fall asleep learning about Beaverbrook.

Well, I tried to better myself. Oh and don't write off Margaret MacMillan, she is cool and is already a much more fascinating Canadian than some of the old white guys she stuffed in this book.

[Santiago Diaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://todosobrelaarena.com/2020/01/...

[Aban (Aby) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Margaret MacMillan brings history to life in this very readable and absorbing book. She explores the qualities, and gives examples, of outstanding leaders, of risk takers, of those whose curiosity drives them to explore new worlds, and of those who quietly observe all that is going on around them. The historical figures she describes come from every part of the world and from the sixteenth century to the present age. Some are world renowned figures, others less well known, and some relatively obscure. I found fascinating examples in every category, and learned interesting new facts:

- the man who figured out the route to Mount Everest was a young Canadain

- a woman, Ada Lovelace, created the first software in history in the 1830s

- that the bankers in the crash of 2008 were part of a group of men able to see opportunities, take risks, and who came to believe that could not lose!

I was fascinated by MacMillan's account of an unknown (to me) risk taker, Dr. Barry Marshall. He is an Australian who came to believe that stomach ulcers are caused by bacteria. Since he could not raise the money for research, he decided to experiment on himself ( much to his wife's fury!)

- I could go on and on. Read the book for your self and explore the remarkable personalities who observed and/or transformed our world throughout the ages.

MacMillan also provides the names and authors of of some of her favourite books, as well as a bibliography, for us to explore. I have made a note of several books to read.

"History's Peolpe" is worth reading; I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

[Peter Mendrela · Rating 5 out of 5]

“If history is…a feast”, as Margaret MacMillan puts it, “the savour comes from its people”. Indeed, MacMillan’s “People” should be a required “dish” for anyone interested in the study of history not only because of the fascinating personalities she discusses, but because of the way she does it.

In short, her writing is lucid, engaging, and scholarly without being elitist or conceding. Much ink has been spilt discussing Bismarck, FDR, Hitler, Stalin or Thatcher, but rarely has reading about them been so much…fun (this adjective, of course, is not a judgment about their actions). Moreover, apart from these historical giants which she categorizes by their personality traits, Macmillan adds a wonderful homage to the less know figures in Canadian history, intrepid women explorers, and a concluding tribute to select diary keepers who make the study of history not only more interesting, but often possible.

One final note. No, MacMillan does not deny the importance of larger political, economic, or social forces which, as it were, “make” history, but she suggests that it is the specific personalities of the aforementioned people that resulted in their seizing power and inflicting such powerful historical shifts.

This is history par excellence from an excellent historian and a writer.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Margaret MacMillan is one of my favourite authors and I find her books very interesting and readable. This book is her recent Massey Lectures in book form and it looks at history from the perspective of historical figures who have contributed to its telling, subtitled "Personalities and the Past". Each chapter represents a certain common quality or role which has been shown by the characters she chooses. The qualities include persuasion and the art of leadership, hubris, curiousity, daring, and the last chapter is "observers", which was the important role played here. I was especially struck by the importance of "observers" in history as those who have either written extensively about their experiences which provide us with a record of the times or protected manuscripts or important documents which could otherwise have been destroyed, thereby providing us with important clues about the times. There is a wide range of historical periods represented - Mrs. Simcoe, wife of John Graves Simcoe, governor of Upper Canada, Edith Durham who championed the causes of Albania, Margaret Thatcher, Stalin and Hitler, from this century, several of the adventurous women from the Raj period, etc. Many of the characters were unfamiliar to me and I plan to do further research on their contributions. It was a compelling read and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I did enjoy this book for what it is--a published record of a series of lectures presented as part of the CBC's Massey Lectures. If you read each chapter as a separate entity, it makes a bit more sense, but trying to connect them together to create a seamless narrative is futile.

This is my first book by MacMillan. I did quite enjoy her ability to make historical figures come alive on the page and put them into the historical context in which they lived. For the most part the individual portraits are short and interesting glimpses into the lives of some famous, infamous, and relatively unknown individuals who pique MacMillan's interest. I would definitely like to try one of MacMillan's other books that focuses on a more comprehensive view of an historical time period or event.

All in all, I found this to be an interesting introduction to some time periods and people that I would like to know more about. Toward that end, MacMillan provides a list of some suggested additional reading which has already added to my "to read" list.

[Dasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

MacMillian covers a variety of historical figures in a, mostly, interesting narrative. My favourite part of the book was not the major sections written on these figures such as William Lyon Mackenzie King or Joseph Stalin. Rather, I enjoyed the sections at the beginning of each chapter where MacMillian discusses the theme of that chapter, for example hubris or ambition, and brings up lots of characters and mini-stories. This lays the groundwork for the chapter to come. Although once the chapter moved on to the main figures I found myself often bored, especially if it was on an individual I had previously read about because there is largely not new information, the research appears more synthetic than analytical. Nonetheless, I did find parts interesting and some of the chapters more valuable than others. For example, her section on British women in Indian was very insightful, perhaps because of all the research, she did on the topic for a previous book based on that topic.

Some people will get more out of this book than others and MacMillian achieves what she seeks out to do.

[Text Publishing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hitler, Stalin, Thatcher, Woodrow Wilson, Otto von Bismarck...

In History's People, Margaret MacMillan investigates how individuals have shaped the world through particular personality traits: persuasion and the art of leadership, hubris, daring, curiosity and observers.

MacMillan's fascinating discussion of the various and varied influential personalities throughout history is the subject of this year’s Massey Lectures—an annual Canadian lecture series given each year by a different scholar of note. Past deliverers of this series include some varied and influential personalities as well: Martin Luther King Jr, Doris Lessing, Noam Chomsky, Ronald Wright (A Short History of Progress) and Margaret Atwood.

‘MacMillan is a superb writer who can bring history to life.’ Philadelphia Inquirer

‘Stylish, intelligent, insightful, History’s People cements MacMillan’s reputation for both eminence and elegance.’ Clare Wright

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this fascinating Massey Lectures, MacMillan focuses on key individuals from history, asserting that although historians must understand brought changes and trends across history (industrialization, demographic shifts, etc.), it is also vital to understand the impact that specific individuals had on world history, merely by being in the right/wrong place at the right/wrong time. Told in a light-hearted way, it does a great job of humanising many famous individuals from history .

[Andrea Engle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful potpourri of individuals from history ... from movers and shakers, such as Franklin Delano Roosevelt, to humble observers, such as Victor Klemperer, MacMillan shows us how each person shapes the history of his or her world and impacts the historical record ... leading to an appreciation of the importance of each individual ... consists of the 2015 Massey Lectures in book format ...

[Cait · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. I learned more about some of the heavy hitters in history, and I also learned about some people that I've never heard about or knew very little about. It was interesting to see how people make history and how the situations make the people. Well worth the read.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review TK.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is very insightful although it only gives a brief summary of each recipient. It's a good book to read if you are looking for more books to pursue.

[Ottawan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and very readable. The relatively short people backgrounds offered encourage further reading on those of most interest.

[Allan Olley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an introduction to the themes of the value of studying individuals in studying history. It is based on the Massey Lectures 2015 given by Margaret MacMillan. The 5 chapters/lectures are organized by themes of character that are examined with themes lie Hubris. In each chapter it focuses on the lives and works of a few individuals to emphasize themes. Individuals such as Richard Nixon, Margaret Thatcher and William Lyon MacKenzie King are detailed. The theme of individuals as witnesses to history and their memoirs as a source of historical understanding recurs throughout the book and is the main subject of the last chapter.

This is a very engaging book. The focus on individuals in history is often criticized as a great many view of history. While MacMillan makes a case makes a case for the effect of individual caprice in the outcome of contingent historical events, in general she is less concerned with that and more concerned with illustrating how the trajectory of individual lives of people who become political leaders often illustrates both historical trends and the way personal character interacts with those trends. Her emphasis on memoir as a way of understanding history is likewise an attempt to illustrate history and its relevance on the human scale we experience our own life in.

The personalities she choose as exemplars are sometimes major figures such as Thatcher, Woodrow Wilson and Babur the founder of the Moghul dynasty in India. However several Canadian figures also find their way into her account including Lord Beaverbrook, Samuel de Champlain and Lady Simcoe that reflect her Canadian background and the audience of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporations Massey Lectures. MacMillan's own scholarship also provides her examples of British women who became chroniclers of life in India under the Raj and also British women who became involved in presenting emerging national struggles in the Balkans and Middle East.

I read the Kobo version of this ebook. It functioned well although there were no footnotes or other complications to formatting.

[Zaid · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is split into different categories: Hubris, Daring, Curiosity, Observers and Persuasion & the Art of Leadership.

Having only learned that this book is a compilation of a series of lectures after reading it, it makes a lot more sense how irrelevant each chapter seems to the next.

On the one hand, I appreciated the insight offered into the personalities of history analysed, such as Champlain, Woodrow Wilson, Thatcher, Nixon, Babur. There are only small glimpses into their lives, but I found their interactions intriguing and learned a lot from how they have shaped today. I also appreciated the counterfactual approach, where MacMillan asks "What if that person did not exist?" or "What if that person wasn't curious?" It makes us remember that each of these personalities acted as a catalyst to huge changes to the modern world.

On the other hand, I feel that some of the characters selected in this book where based on the mere fact that they were an influential white person in a foreign land , giving the impression of whitewashing history. Examples might be Gertrude Bell or Edith Durham. No doubt these personalities worked tirelessly in their lives, yet I feel a personality from that country during that time period might have been more appropriate.

As a whole, the book provides great insight into individual personalities and provokes you to read more about them. Some of the people chosen were of great interest, but others appeared more irrelevant or boring.

[Christina Barber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve gone back to revisit Margaret MacMillan’s 2015 Massey Lecture, “History’s People”. I read it when it was first published with my book club, but never listened to it. I’m glad I did. MacMillan has a wonderful storytelling quality and is a fantastic speaker. I wish I’d had her as a professor in university. Thankfully, she has published a number of books, “Paris 1919” and “The War that Ended Peace” among them, very enlightening books about a tumultuous and complex time in human history.

With “History’s People,” the subject of her 2015 Lectures, MacMillan explores various qualities of the people who make history: persuasion and leadership, hubris, daring, curiosity, and observation. Employing exemplars from William Lyon Mackenzie King, Stalin, Ada Lovelace, Lady Simcoe, Victor Klemperer among so many others, she looks at the importance of the records left behind, journals, diaries, and letters - while carefully noting the influence of environment and external events, cautioning against the presentist mindset and also against the tendency towards making predictions from the past. The use of history as sign posts (to paraphrase), “Caution, danger ahead!”, “Slippery in winter”, is a practical one.

As an avid armchair historian, I appreciate the telling of history as fun and entertaining, while being important and informative. That we should understand our past so that we may better understand our present and future.

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is based on the Massey Lectures that Margaret MacMillan delivered in 2015, and I would have enjoyed listening to them immensely. However, as a book it doesn’t work for me. There is political history, social history, and economic history, but this is something new. The history of personalities perhaps? Whatever it is, I don’t like it. Nevertheless, I plodded along because it was for my book club.

And then I read this, on page 139, in the chapter called Hubris: “Once in power Hitler moved quickly to eliminate the opposition and bring the German state and German society under control. A month after he had been appointed, a convenient fire in the German parliament, the Reichstag, enabled him to gain the right to rule by decree.” Why would a fire enable him to rule by decree? No explanation is offered. If I had heard those words spoken in a lecture hall, I probably wouldn’t have noticed the “hole,” but it was glaring in book format.

I’m a fan of Margaret MacMillan but I simply wasn’t enjoying this book, and decided not to finish. While I loved the Canadian references, I found this book too general and sweeping in nature, and I will not find it memorable in the long run. I didn’t learn anything from it, nor will it be valuable as a reference book.

[Reza Amiri Praramadhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

History is my most favorite subject. It gives us lessons and warning from the past that may be useful in the future. It is very exciting to imagine the what-ifs, that are, scenarios of how things should and should not happen and its consequences. And in this book, there are five categories of people who become part of history: first, the leaders who are able and persuasive to the point of determining the tide of history; second, the hubristic people who became so sure of their own sense of righteousness, oblivious to the fact that it led them to their downfalls; third, daring adventurers who pushed forward the frontier of men; fourth, curious people, who, in their effort to satisfy their curiousity, went and found new things; and fifth, the observers, people, who, in virtue of their detailed diaries and journals, end up chronicling important moments of history of men, giving informations to future generations about otherwise unknown things and moments. Although the premise is quite interesting, I found the choice of people in the book quite questionable, since it is cramped with Canadians. I enjoy very much the categorization of Hitler and Stalin with Thatcher, though, quite amusing.

[Anastasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is history about events or people? Do the people in the past shape the events, or does the events shape them?

Margaret MacMillan argues that it is both. It is important to understand how people, because of the times they live in shape history. That those times shape people. That by studying the diaries, letters and other written materials of individuals we can better understand the times they lived in.

I have read Lady Simcoe's diaries, and Roughing It in the Bush by Susanna Moodie, that are mentioned in this book. They both have given me more insight into their time in Ontario. A personal look into the past, of places that I know intimately today. It breeds a deeper understanding, and empathy for our ancestors and others hardships.

Her book has also given me a list of primary sources, such as essays, diaries etc. to add to my TBR.

[Casey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having so thoroughly enjoyed Paris 1919 and The War That Ended Peace, I found this to be rather disappointing. This is less a book about history and more a book about Margaret MacMillan. She wants us to know that she knows lots of stuff about lots of stuff. "Fanny Parkes's memoirs, which were published in 1850, were out of print until the 1970s, and she was known only to a handful of people, such as myself, who researched the British in India." She also wants us to know she has thoughts and opinions about stuff. And that opens quite a window. Of Ada Lovelace, "Although she too married, to a man who became the Earl of Lovelace, she managed somehow to combine being a wife and mother with using her mind." Maybe one day she'll write a book exploring this incredible mystery.

If you want good history, by all means read MacMillan's excellent 1919 and War. But for a few nuggets, this effort is not much worth your time.

[Barry Choi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like others who have reviewed this book I feel a bit conflicted. On the one hand, MacMillan presents interesting stories and anecdotes about a variety of figures (prominent and less so) through history and ties them to 5 themes. Interesting narrative and you can see how this would have made for an excellent lecture or podcast.

On the other hand, I can't help but feel that the history we read and learn about is also shaped by those who have the opportunity to choose. To amplify the diaries and correspondence from people they choose and de-emphasize or even ignore the ones that conflict. In our modern world we see this through social media. Does a twitter feed truly reflect the world (no it does not) or does it reflect an edited perspective?

In closing I may still add MacMillans book on the women of the Raj to my reading list as this book did spark my interest in that underrepresented (in my world) nugget of history.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

MacMillan is a giant in writing riveting history that is informative, insightful, and delightful. Her rhythm of writing carries the reader ever forwards and she has a perfect balance of conversational and academic tones. I will continue to read everything she writes!

In this particular book, MacMillan provides brief snapshots into the lives of numerous figures throughout history, each providing the opportunity to explore the value and facets of history as a field of study, while also being interesting and entertaining. It is an interesting, fun, and light read that breezes by fairly quickly.

I am, however, a bit disappointed. Not because the book itself isn't good, but it isn't groundbreaking. MacMillan has taken on large and incredibly interesting projects in the past. Her Paris book still echoes in my brain quite regularly. I completely understand if she wanted to take a break from such projects, but I hope it isn't permanent.