Margaret MacMillan: War and the making of the modern world

War is deeply woven into human history. We remember war, rightly, for its destructive impact but it has also led to advances in science, to improvements in the position of previously marginalized groups such as women or to greater equality.

This lecture will examine some of the paradoxes of war drawing on examples from history. Since it is a century since the end of the Great War particular attention will be paid to its causes and consequences.

Professor Margaret MacMillan is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a Companion of the Order of Canada and a Companion of Honour (UK). She was a member of Ryerson University's History Department for 25 years, Provost of Trinity College at the University of Toronto from 2002 to 2007, Warden of St Antony's College and Professor of International History, University of Oxford from 2007-2017.