Walworth starts his study of Wilson at the Versailles Peace Conference by highlighting the failure of diplomacy, which he states set the stage for the Second World War.
He tells the story of Wilson's negotiations at Paris in detail for the first time. Wilson lacked the negotiating skills necessary to deal with the wily Lloyd George and Clemenceau; he also suffered badly from the consequences of catching the Spanish Flu.
As the publishers say, this is the long awaited and definitive (at least in 1986!) record of the American role in one of the greatest tragedies of 20th Century diplomacy.