The Great Illusion

A Study of the Relation of Military Power in Nations to their
Economic and Social Advantages. 12mo. $1.00 net

Arms and Industry

A Study of the Foundations of International Polity

In Preparation:

The Citizen and Society

First Principles of their Relationship

"THE GREAT ILLUSION" AND
PUBLIC OPINION

AMERICA

"New York Times," March 12, 1911.

"A book which has compelled thought; a book full of real ideas deserves the welcome it has received. The author is enjoying the almost unlimited praise of his contemporaries, expressed or indicated by many men of eminence and influence, by countless reviewers who have lately hungered for a hero to worship.

"Moreover ... it certainly makes for genuine Æsthetic pleasure, and that is all most of us ask of a book."

"The Evening Post," Chicago (Mr. Floyd Dell), February 17, 1911.

"The book, being read, does not simply satisfy curiosity; it disturbs and amazes. It is not, as one would expect, a striking expression of some familiar objections to war. It is instead—it appears to be—a new contribution to thought, a revolutionary work of the first importance, a complete shattering of conventional ideas about international politics; something corresponding to the epoch-making 'Origin of Species' in the realm of biology.

"All of this it appears to be. One says 'appears,' not because the book fails completely to convince, but because it convinces so fully. The paradox is so perfect there must be something wrong about it!...

"At first glance the statement which forms the basis of the book looks rather absurd, but before it is finished it seems a self-evident proposition. It is certainly a proposition which, if proved, will provide a materialistic common-sense basis for disarmament....

"There is subject-matter here for ironic contemplation. Mr. Angell gives the reader no chance to imagine that these things 'just happened.' He shows why they happened and had to happen....

"One returns again and again to the arguments, looking to find some fallacy in them. Not finding them, one stares wonderingly ahead into the future, where the book seems to cast its portentous shadow."

"Boston Herald," January 21, 1911.

"This is an epoch-making book, which should be in the hands of everyone who has even the slightest interest in human progress.... His criticism is not only masterly—it is overwhelming; for though controversy will arise on some of the details, the main argument is irrefutable. He has worked it out with a grasp of the evidence and a relentlessness of logic that will give life and meaning to his book for many a year to come."

"Life" (New York).

"An inquiry into the nature and history of the forces that have shaped and are shaping our social development that throws more light upon the meaning and the probable outcome of the so-called 'war upon war' than all that has been written and published upon both sides put together. The incontrovertible service that Mr. Angell has rendered us in 'The Great Illusion' is to have introduced intellectual order into an emotional chaos."

GREAT BRITAIN.

"Daily Mail."

"No book has attracted wider attention or has done more to stimulate thought in the present century than 'The Great Illusion.' Published obscurely, and the work of an unknown writer, it gradually forced its way to the front.... Has become a significant factor in the present discussion of armaments and arbitration."

"Nation."

"No piece of political thinking has in recent years more stirred the world which controls the movement of politics.... A fervour, a simplicity, and a force which no political writer of our generation has equalled ... rank its author, with Cobden, among the greatest of our pamphleteers, perhaps the greatest since Swift."

"Edinburgh Review."

"Mr. Angell's main thesis cannot be disputed, and when the facts ... are fully realized, there will be another diplomatic revolution more fundamental than that of 1756."

"Daily News."

"So simple were the questions he asked, so unshakable the facts of his reply, so enormous and dangerous the popular illusion which he exposed, that the book not only caused a sensation in reading circles, but also, as we know, greatly moved certain persons high-placed in the political world.

"The critics have failed to find a serious flaw in Norman Angell's logical, coherent, masterly analysis."

Sir Frank Lascelles (formerly British Ambassador at Berlin) in Speech at Glasgow, January 29, 1912.

"While I was staying with the late King, his Majesty referred me to a book which had then been published by Norman Angell, entitled 'The Great Illusion.' I read the book, and while I think that at present it is not a question of practical politics, I am convinced that it will change the thought of the world in the future."

R.A. Scott James in "The Influence of the Press."

"Norman Angel in recent years has done more probably than any other European to frustrate war, to prove that it is unprofitable. He was probably the guiding spirit behind the diplomacy which checked the Great Powers from rushing into the Balkan conflict."

J.W. Graham, M.A., in "Evolution and Empire."

"Norman Angell has placed the world in his debt and initiated a new epoch of thought.... It is doubtful whether since the 'Origin of Species' so many bubbles have been burst, and so definitely plain a step in thought been made, by any single book."

Mr. Harold Begbie in the "Daily Chronicle."

"A new idea is suddenly thrust upon the minds of men.... It is hardly an exaggeration to say that this book does more to fill the mind with the intolerable weight of war, to convince the reasonable mind ... than all the moral and eloquent appeals of Tolstoy.... The wisest piece of writing on the side of peace extant in the world to-day."

"Birmingham Post."

"'The Great Illusion,' by sheer force, originality, and indisputable logic, has won its way steadily forward, and made its author a person to be quoted by statesmen and diplomatists not only in England, but in France, Germany, and America."

"Glasgow News."

"If only for the daring with which Mr. Angell's extraordinary book declares that the accepted ideas are so much moonshine, it would be a work to attract attention. When we add that Mr. Angell makes out a decidedly brilliant and arresting case for his contention, we have said sufficient to indicate that it is worth perusal by the most serious type of reader."

BRITISH COLONIAL OPINION.

W.M. Hughes, Acting Premier of Australia, in a letter to the "Sydney Telegraph."

"It is a great book, a glorious book to read. It is a book pregnant with the brightest promise to the future of civilized man. Peace—not the timid, shrinking figure of The Hague, cowering under the sinister shadow of six million bayonets—appears at length as an ideal possible of realization in our own time."

Sir George Reid, Australian High Commissioner in London (Sphinx Club Banquet, May 5, 1911).

"I regard the author of this book as having rendered one of the greatest services ever rendered by the writer of a book to the human race. Well, I will be very cautious indeed—one of the greatest services which any author has rendered during the past hundred years."

FRANCE AND BELGIUM.

M. Anatole France in "The English Review," August, 1913.

"One cannot weigh too deeply the reflections of this ably reasoned work."

"La Petite RÉpublique" (M. Henri Turot), 17 DÉcembre, 1910.

"J'estime, pour ma part, 'La Grande Illusion' doit avoir, au point de vue de la conception moderne de l'Économie politique internationale, un retentissement Égal À celui qu'eut, en matiÈre biologique, la publication, par Darwin, de 'l'Origine des espÈces.'

"C'est que M. Norman Angell joint À l'originalitÉ de la pensÉe le courage de toutes les franchises, qu'il unit À une prodigieuse Érudition la luciditÉ d'esprit et la mÉthode qui font jaillir la loi scientifique de l'ensemble des ÉvÉnements observÉs."

"Revue Bleu," Mai, 1911.

"Fortement ÉtayÉes, ses propositions Émanent d'un esprit singuliÈrement rÉaliste, Également informÉ et clairvoyant, qui met une connaissance des affaires et une dialectique concise au service d'une conviction, aussi passionnÉe que gÉnÉreuse."

M. Jean JaurÈs, during debate in French Chamber of Deputies, January 13, 1911; see Journal Officiel, 14 Janvier, 1911.

"Il a paru, il y a peu de temps, un livre anglais de M. Norman Angell, 'La Grande Illusion,' qui a produit un grand effet en Angleterre. Dans les quelques jours que j'ai passÉs de l'autre cÔtÉ du dÉtroit, j'ai vu, dans les rÉunions populaires, toutes les fois qu'il Était fait mention de ce livre, les applaudissements Éclater."

GERMANY AND AUSTRIA.

"KÖlnische Zeitung."

"Never before has the peace question been dealt with by so bold, novel, and clear a method; never before has the financial interdependence of nations been shown with such precision.... It is refreshing to have demonstrated in this unsentimental, practical way the fact that as our financial interdependence increases war as a business venture necessarily becomes more and more unprofitable."

"Der Turmer" (Stuttgart).

"This demonstration should clear the air like a thunderstorm.... It is not because the book brilliantly expresses what are in many respects our own views that we urge its importance, but because of its unanswerable demonstration of the futility of military power in the economic field."

"KÖnigsberger Allgemeine Zeitung."

"This book proves absolutely that conquest as a means of material gain has become an impossibility.... The author shows that the factors of the whole problem have been profoundly modified within the past forty years."

"Ethische Kultur" (Berlin).

"Never has militarism been combated by economic weapons with the skill shown by Norman Angell.... So broad and comprehensive a grasp of the moral as well as the economic force, that the book is a real pleasure to read.... The time was ripe for a man with this keenness of vision to come forward and prove in this flawless way that military power has nothing to do with national prosperity."

Professor Karl von Bar, the authority on International and Criminal Law, Privy Councillor, etc.

"Particularly do I agree with the author in these two points: (1) That in the present condition of organized society the attempt of one nation to destroy the commerce or industry of another must damage the victor more perhaps than the vanquished; and (2) that physical force is a constantly diminishing factor in human affairs. The rising generation seems to be realizing this more and more."

Dr. Friedrich Curtius.

"The book will, I hope, convince everyone that in our time the attempt to settle industrial and commercial conflicts by arms is an absurdity.... I doubt, indeed, whether educated folks in Germany entertain this 'illusion' ... or the idea that colonies or wealth can be 'captured.' ... A war dictated by a moral idea, the only one we can justify, is inconceivable as between England and Germany."

Dr. Wilhelm Ostwald, who has occupied chairs in several German Universities, as well as at Harvard and Columbia.

"From the first line to the last 'The Great Illusion' expresses my own opinions."

Dr. Sommer, Member of the Reichstag.

"A most timely work, and one which everyone, be he statesman or political economist, should study ... especially if he desires to understand a peace ideal which is practical and realizable.... Without agreeing on all points, I admit gladly the force and suggestiveness of the thesis.... We on our side should make it our business, as you should on yours, to render it operative, to use the means, heretofore unrealized, of joint work for civilization. In rendering possible such joint work, Norman Angell's book must take a foremost place."

Dr. Max Nordau.

"If the destiny of people were settled by reason and interest, the influence of such a book would be decisive.... The book will convince the far-seeing minority, who will spread the truth, and thus slowly conquer the world."

Dr. Albert Suedekum, Member of the Reichstag, author of several works on municipal government, editor of Municipal Year-Books, etc.

"I consider the book an invaluable contribution to the better understanding of the real basis of international peace."

Dr. Otto Mugdan, Member of the Reichstag, Member of the National Loan Commission, Chairman of the Audit Commission, etc.

"The demonstration of the financial interdependence of modern civilized nations, and the economic futility of conquest, could not be made more irrefutably."

Professor A. von Harder.

"I agree that it is a mistake to wait for action as between governments; far better, as JaurÈs proved the other day in the French Chamber, for the peoples to co-operate.... The book should be widely circulated in Germany, where so many are still of opinion that heavy armaments are an absolute necessity for self-defence."

FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC AUTHORITIES.

"American Journal of Political Economy."

"The best treatise yet written on the economic aspect of war."

"American Political Science Review."

"It may be doubted whether within its entire range the peace literature of the Anglo-Saxon world has ever produced a more fascinating or significant study."

"Economist" (London).

"Nothing has ever been put in the same space so well calculated to set plain men thinking usefully on the subject of expenditure on armaments, scare and war.... The result of the publication of this book has been within the past month or two quite a number of rather unlikely conversions to the cause of retrenchment."

"Investors' Review" (London), November 12, 1910.

"No book we have read for years has so interested and delighted us.... He proceeds to argue, and to prove, that conquests do not enrich the conqueror under modern conditions of life.... The style in which the book is written—sincere, transparent, simple, and now and then charged with fine touches of ironic humour—make it very easy to read."

"Economic Review" (London).

"Civilization will some day acknowledge a deep debt of gratitude to Mr. Norman Angell for the bold and searching criticism of the fundamental assumptions of modern diplomacy contained in his remarkable book.... He has laid his fingers upon some very vital facts, to which even educated opinion has hitherto been blind."

"Journal des Economistes."

"Son livre sera beaucoup lu, car il est aussi agrÉable que profond, et il donnera beaucoup À rÉflÉchir."

"Export" (Organ des Centralvereins fÜr Handelsgeographie).

"By reason of its statement of the case against war in terms of practical politics and commercial advantage (Real-und Handelspolitikers), the keenness and the mercilessness of the logic by which the author explodes the errors and the illusions of the war phantasists ... the sense of reality, the force with which he settles accounts point by point with the militarists, this book stands alone. It is unique."

"The Western Mail."

"A novel, bold, and startling theory."

MILITARY OPINION.

"Army and Navy Journal" (N.Y.), October 5, 1910.

"If all anti-militarists could argue for their cause with the candour and fairness of Norman Angell we should welcome them, not with 'bloody hands to hospitable graves,' but to a warm and cheery intellectual comradeship. Mr. Angell has packed away in his book more common sense than peace societies have given birth to in all the years of their existence...."

"United Service Magazine" (London), May, 1911.

"It is an extraordinarily clearly written treatise upon an absorbingly interesting subject, and it is one which no thinking soldier should neglect to study.... Mr. Angell's book is much to be commended in this respect. It contains none of the nauseating sentiment which is normally parasitic to 'peace' literature. The author is evidently careful to take things exactly as he conceives them to be, and to work out his conclusions without 'cleverness' and unobscured by technical language. His method is to state the case for the defence (of present-day 'militarist' statecraft), to the best of his ability in one chapter, calling the best witnesses he can find and putting their views from every standpoint so clearly that even one who was beforehand quite ignorant of the subject cannot fail to understand. Mr. Angell's book is one which all citizens would do well to read, and read right through. It has the clearness of vision and the sparkling conciseness which one associates with Swift at his best."

"The Army Service Corps Quarterly" (Aldershot, England), April, 1911.

"The ideas are so original and clever, and in places are argued with so much force and common sense, that they cannot be pushed aside at once as preposterous.... There is food here for profound study.... Above all, we should encourage the sale of 'The Great Illusion' abroad, among nations likely to attack us, as much as possible."

"War Office Times" (London).

"Should be read by everyone who desires to comprehend both the strength and the weakness of this country."