My review is based on the original publication of this book in 1958. It's a mixture of memoir of Herbert Hoover's own experience during the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 and a history of the event with the emphasis on Woodrow Wilson's role. There are long extracts of documents of various kinds in this book and quotes from published memoirs of other participants. I was surprised how much praise Hoover lavished on Wilson. Perhaps, his own experience of leaving the White House as an unpopular president for his unsuccessful grappling with Great Depression led Hoover to greatly sympathize with Wilson's ordeal of attempting to build a new world order that would replace the one that had led to so much death and destruction. This would not be the first book I would read on Hoover, Wilson, or Paris, but definitely would recommend for those want to read more deeply on on those topics. ( )

Excellent read. Hoover was a key advisor of Wilson's at the Paris Peace Talks. Very important book given that we're living the results of so many of the decisions made in Paris. This conference, ending WWI, is the one in which the western European countries carved up the Middle Eastern countries to what they are today...and created much of the mess the we're living through. Hoover tells some of the background story. ( )

This is the only book that I'm aware of that is a biography of one president by another. You think your job is tough? Take a look at the before and after shots of Wilson on the cover! Update: I now have a copy of yet another biography of one president by another. It is George Washington: A Life by Woodrow Wilson.

New York Times