Maps
Chronology
Who's who
Part One. Background
Explaining the Second World War
Part Two. Analysis
The international crisis
Economic and imperial rivalry
Armaments and domestic politics
War over Poland
From European to world war
Part Three. Assessment
Hitler's war?
Part Four. Documents
The Treaty of Versailles and Germany
The Covenant of the League
The search for a settlement
American "appeasement"
Stalin anticipates war
The "Hossbach Memorandum"
Preparation for war before Munich
The Munich Conference
The Munich Agreement
Economic pressure on Japan
Mussolini's vision of empire
Economic appeasement
Britain and Germany in the Balkans
The Four-Year Plan
Economic dangers for Britain
The crisis in France
"Peace for our time"
The change of mood in the West
Hitler plans to crush Poland
Chamberlain guarantees Poland
The Franco-British "War Plan," 1939
British intelligence on Germany
Stalin warns the West after Munich
The Franco-British failure in Moscow
The Soviet reaction to German advances, 1939
The German-Soviet Pact
Britain's probable attitude
Hitler gambles on Western weakness
The last gasp of appeasement
Bonnet's doubts about war
Poland in the middle
The last days of peace
Chamberlain's "Awful Sunday"
Berlin proposes peace
A demand for peace
The Tripartite Pact
Preparation for total mobilization in Germany
The Barbarossa directive
The German attack on Russia
Russia raises the price for co-operation
Japan decides on war
Creating the new world order
Glossary.