The voice of the United States during the historic Paris Peace Conference of 1918–1919 finds its first comprehensive and authoritative expression in these pages. The history of the negotiations that led to peace with the Central Powers is recounted here by those who sat with the heads of state day after day. Here are facts, not selected rumors and gossip gathered like crumbs from a lavish feast, many of which have been put into books to satisfy the hunger for information about one of the most important events in history. The final decisions were made by others, but they were largely based on facts and opinions presented by the people telling the story of “what really happened in Paris.” The narrators do not always share the same opinion regarding the significance of the outcomes, nor in their assessments of the men who achieved them, but this lends interest to a narrative that would otherwise be uninteresting.