The Origins of the Second World War

Hamish Hamilton, 1961

On 1 September 1939, Germany attacked Poland. Two days later Great Britain and France declared war on Germany. This was the beginning of the Second World War. Admirable books were written on the origins of the war soon after it ended. Then the subject was neglected. Since then thousands of previously secret documents have been published, particularly from the British and German archives. Our perspective has changed, and the Second World War has moved from contemporary to the past. This is a highly original and penetrating re-examination of the diplomatic history of the inter-war years. It is an outstanding unravelling and reweaving into a clear pattern, made apparently simple by the clarity and order imposed upon it by a sound historical sense, an unblinking eye, and a jargonless style...

Note: Pen markings in first third of book