Ireland Books

The second edition of NAZI GERMANY AND WORLD WAR II offers an articulate, balanced, comprehensive, and generously illustrated edition of the Third Reich from Hitler's birth in 1889 to the Nuremberg Trials in 1945-1946. The first six chapters deal with Hitler's rise to power and his regime's policies to the outbreak of war in 1939; the last five chapters detail the war and the Holocaust. As the title suggests, World War II, which is the logical outcome of Hitler's racial ideology and the central event of Nazi history (and of world history from 1939 to 1945) is given extensive coverage. The heart of the book is a well-told narrative that emphasizes political history and war, but there is enough interpretative and analytical material, as well as coverage of cultural, economic, intellectual, and social topics, to justify the book's description as a comprehensive survey.

The second edition, which incorporates the most current research and suggestions from students, colleagues, reviewers, and other readers, contains an extensively revised chapter on the Holocaust, highlighting recent controversial interpretations. Readers will find new material on popular support for and resistance to the regime's murderous racial policies and expanded coverage of the war, including the unprecedented massacres of soldiers and civilians on the Russian front,the deadly bombing of Germany, the Normandy invasion, the Battle of the Bulge, and the final destruction of the Third Reich. Excerpts from primary sources placed in text boxes--authentic, sometimes plaintive voices from the period, some from well-known figures but more from ordinary people, including children--are a completely new feature of the second edition.

Students and other readers, whose suggestions and enthusiastic reception of the book, have helped encourage me to write a second, and, I hope, improved edition. They reinforced my conviction that the story of Germany's descent into hell under the Hitler regime will always need to be told.

I have taken the class with Dr. Wall and the text is excellent. It covers and enormous topic in a concise and methodical way without being bogged down in infinite detail. It reads well and has a wealth of facts and data as well as a bibliography that is very thorough. Dr. Wall continues to be one of the finest teachers in the state of Colorado and an asset to his students. The finest compliment I can offer is that I kept the book after the class, adding it to my personal library of excellent works.

The second edition of NAZI GERMANY AND WORLD WAR II offers an articulate, balanced, comprehensive, and generously illustrated treatment of the Third Reich from Hitler's birth in 1889 to the Nuremberg Trials in 1945-1946. Although there is no formal division, the organization of the subject matter and the degree of coverage given each topic separate the book into two parts. The first six chapters deal with Hitler's rise to power and how his regime's policies changed German society to the outbreak of war in 1939. The last five chapters detail the war, the Holocaust, and the collapse of the "thousand year Reich." As the title suggests, World War II, which is the logical outcome of Hitler's murderous racial ideology and the central event of Nazi history (and of world history from 1939 to 1945) is given extensive coverage. The heart of the book is a well-told narrative that emphasizes political history and war, but there is enough interpretive and analytical material, as well as coverage of cultural, economic, intellectual, and social topics, to justify the book's description as a comprehensive survey.

The second edition, which incorporates the most current research and suggestions from students, colleagues, reviewers, and other readers, contains an updated bibliography and an extensively revised chapter on the Holocaust, which highlights recent controversial interpretations. Readers will find new material on popular support for and resistance to Hitler's murderous racial policies and greatly expanded coverage of the war, highlighting the unprecedented massacres of combatants and civilians on the Russian front, the deadly bombing of Germany, the Normandy invasion and the Battle of the Bulge, and the final destruction of the Third Reich. Excerpts from primary sources placed in text boxes--authentic, sometimes plaintive, voices from the period, some from well-known figures but more from ordinary people, including children--are a completely new feature of the second edition.

I was encouraged to write a second, and, I hope, improved edition by the unwavering support of the Wadsworth editorial staff and the enthusiastic reception of the first edition by students and other readers. They have reinforced my conviction that the story of Germany's descent into hell under the Hitler regime will always need to be told.

It's said that the Devil can quote Scripture to prove his own point - and something like that has been tried with the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the Norman Conquest of England. The French claim it as French. The English have claimed it as Anglo-Saxon. During World War II, Hitler tried to use it as a kind of Book of Genesis for the Third Reich. William the Conqueror, 7th Duke of Normandy, was the descendant of Vikings. ("Norman" derives from the Latin for "Northmen.") The Scandinavian connection appealed to Hitler's racial, mythic notions. Among the Tapestry's 11th century images of conquering warriors, he sought ancient origins for his supposed Germanic super-race.

In fact, maintains R. Howard Bloch, these competing claims are only possible because the Tapestry itself hardly takes sides between the conquered Anglo-Saxons and the conquering Normans, and seeks to reconcile those whom it portrays. Its point of view is neither clearly Norman nor Anglo-Saxon. Without dwelling on fixing blame, it shows both armies fighting bravely. ("French and English fall together," it says of the battle at Hastings.) All may go on to become King William's peaceful subjects. Bloch finds in the Tapestry's well-recognized ambiguities an intention by its designer to tell the story without maligning either Normans or Anglo-Saxons.


Sterling Professor of French and the Director of the Humanities Division at Yale, as well as author of several books about the Middle Ages, Bloch brings an unusual array of qualifications to this subject. His mother, formally trained as a textile engineer, was a craftswoman who covered the walls of their home with creative needlework; his father an expert in the manufacture of finished cloth. In considering the Tapestry, its purposes and the influences it reflects, especially those found in other woven, painted or embroidered fabrics, Bloch speaks the language of textiles as one born to it.


He points out from the beginning, as all writers on the Bayeux Tapestry must, that it isn't strictly a tapestry at all, but an embroidery, on a long (about 230 feet) linen strip; and that we have no other record like it. Despite the crude medieval drawing, the Tapestry vividly brings alive the sweep of events. The most photorealistic horses, for example, could not pulse with more vitality, or fall in battle more convincingly, than they do in these images. In the Tapestry's unfolding story, we see the Anglo-Saxon Harold Godwineson swear his oath of loyalty to Duke William. It doesn't tell us whether he had a choice, or was tricked. Is King Edward the Confessor of England, on his deathbed, revoking his promise of the crown to his kinsman, Duke William of Normandy? Promising it to Harold? There sits Harold in majesty, crowned -- if it was with indecent haste, the Tapestry doesn't say so -- the day after Edward's death. Duke William "is told of Harold," the Tapestry tells us neutrally, and he prepares to invade. There is the mysterious woman, Aelfgyva. With generations of scholars we wonder who she is, and why she is here. Is that cleric merely touching her head, or slapping her so that she'll never forget something she's witnessing? The images quicken their pace, reaching the bloody clash at Hastings and the Norman victory. Something is missing at the end of the Tapestry; perhaps the lost portion showed King William in majesty, matching the earlier crowned and enthroned Harold.


Professor Bloch understands the Tapestry with an appreciation of what may be called the southern angle: that the Normans who had campaigned in or been to the Italian peninsula, Sicily, the Holy Land, Constantinople, brought back with them both novel combat tactics and a network of cultural threads that linked their northern homeland with Byzantium and with the whole Mediterranean world. He points out not only the famly Scandinavian links of style and motif with the Tapestry, but those found in sumptuous Byzantine silks, proposing lights for what have been obscure corners of Tapestry interpretation. In so doing, he gives greater attention to the enigmatic borders of the Tapestry -- those often-cryptic passages above and below the main narrative -- than do some other commentators.


He argues that the Tapestry deliberately leaves crucial questions unanswered. It means to withhold one-sided judgments. The Tapestry does NOT tell us whether Harold swore fealty to William willingly, or whether he knew he was holding his hands outstretched over sacred relics, making the oath a much more serious matter. It leaves unstated, not alone what King Edward intended at the last, but what it was in his power to do. Though the evidence suggests that English hands made the Tapestry, it is NOT clear whose voice, so to speak, tells the story. The Tapestry, Bloch maintains, is not a work of partisan propaganda. King William, he says, wanted Anglo-Saxons and Normans reconciled under his unifying rule -- and wanted the wider world to acquiesce in his dreams of even wider empire. Without knowing for sure when or where the Tapestry was made, or by whom ordered, or where it was designed to be displayed, Bloch says, we can find all this on its face. It's an argument that anyone interested in the Norman Conquest, the events surrounding it and those that flowed from it, should want to consider; and it is engagingly written. I couldn't put it down. Its story is, of course, still relevant -- to, among much else, the fact that Prince William of England will someday be King William V because he'll be counting from King William I, the Conqueror.

Of all the great historical and artistic sites in the world, the Bayeux Tapestry is perhaps second on my list of places I would like to visit (Troy comes first). Actually not a "tapestry" (it is technically an embroidery) the Bayeux Tapestry, dating from the Eleventh century pictorially tells the story of William the Conqueror's invasion of England and victorious battle at Hastings. Exactly who sponsored its creation, designed it, and embroidered it remain mysteries, as does its ultimate purpose. Bloch's new book does not seek to supply sensational answers to these continuing controversies (as did, for example, Andrew Bridgeford's "1066: The Hidden History of the Bayeux Tapestry"), nor even to solve the perplexing mystery of the identity of the woman "Aelfgyva" who appears in the Tapestry. Instead, Bloch provides a fast-reading discussion of the historical and artistic context for understanding the Tapestry. He concludes that there are many Scandinavian/Norman elements incorporated into the the design (and Scandinavian textiles are the most closely related art works known), but that Anglo-Saxon illuminated manuscripts appear to supply the models for the style of illustration. And the author traces back important design elements to Byzantine silk weavings.

Bloch contends that the Tapestry was consciously created as a way to bring together the Anglo-Saxon and Norman peoples on both sides of the English Channel (although it seems to me that this view is suspiciously congruent with modern notions of multiculturism rather than Eleventh century realities). Regardless whether one accepts or rejects this viewpoint, the book's narrative provides an informative examination of the Norman and Anglo-Saxon worlds which gave birth to this unique artistic treasure.

Dr Bloch explains the tale of the Tapestry in a very clear and appealing manner. In particular, he describes the sequence of events depicted by the Tapestry itself as well as the political environment of early 11th century Europe that led to the pivotal Battle of Hastings. His insights are cogent and sound. I highly recommend this brief but thorough work.

This is the best way to practice the grammar from each chapter of the book. I have been studying with other books as well and I can say this book and the workbook are one of the best I have found to improve my English.

I'd like to learn english and I hope this book help me.

I'm an ESL teacher and I've used this collection for over 3 years to teach adults. I have many students who have learned using it and in my household only there are 3 of them. Yes, I've taught my own family! It's filled with great exercises, fun lessons and easy to do step-by-step class plans. Buy it, it'll change your method. With this books you don't even need the flash cards!

A intense and well written work tediously explaining the situation with North Ireland. A no bias account complete with full documentation gives you a full perspective from each side and why. I would suggest someone unfamiliar with the subject in getting their feet wet on the subject first with some light research, and then jump into reading this book as it is a immense piece of information.

This is an essentail read for all who study comparative politics, history, public administration and international relations or international law. Professor Tonge provideds an easy to follow, well-written book that will spark your interest for hours. In addition to updated information, Professor Tonge provides additional references for further investigation. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has developed a curiousity regarding the events in Northern Ireland or for poli-sci courses that deals with comparative policy/political studies or a course in international conflict.

This book is absolutely the best book written on the history of the "Troubles." It comes from a very unbiased source who attempts to explain the 300 plus years of conflict to those who have no knowledge of the troubles in the North. It is also enlightening to us who do have knowledge and insight into the conflicts of Northern Ireland. If you ever wanted to know about the "Troubles," or want to know more, this book is a must read. It should be the first book read before anyone takes on any study of the conflicts which shroud Northern Ireland.

"Conversations with Wellington" is a unique insight into the character and later life of the First Duke of Wellington. Philip Henry, then Lord Mahan, later Earl Stanhope, took notes of his frequent conversations with the Duke during the period 1831-1851, ending just months before the Duke's death.

"Conversations" offers some insight into the lives of the British upper class of that period, a seemingly endless series of visits, horseback rides, and dinners, sandwiched between business in Parliament and visits to country estates.

"Conversations" also reminds us of the elaborate code of manners and behavior expected in that era. As an example, Stanhope has the sense of discretion not to record the names of people who come up in his conversations with the Duke, who might be embarrassed at a later date. This rule seems to have applied principally to politicians contemporary with the various conversations.

Most importantly, "Conversations" offers us insight into the character and thinking of the Duke of Wellington in his later years. This is the Duke 15 years or more removed from Waterloo, serving the British Government in a variety of positions, still prominent enough as a hero and politician to be sought out for advice by a succession of monarchs and prime ministers. The book is apparently the source of many quotes of the Duke that appear in more recent histories. The Duke's inherent common sense, honesty, and sense of duty are obvious in conversation, as is the remarkable fact that a lifetime of military and politican service had given him a keen understanding of human nature but not left him cynical about it. There is a certain sadness in the narrative as the Duke's health slowly declines, and a sense that the long-lived Duke outlived his own times.

This edition is not annotated or provided with additional commentary beyond Elizabeth Longford's superb introduction. The reader who is not already familar with Wellington's military and political career, and the early historiography of the Napoleonic era, may find "Conversations" very difficult to follow. This edition is highly recommended to those interested in the Duke and his era, especially his recollections of the Peninsular War and the Waterloo Campaign.

Excellent work that provides plenty of quotes from Wellington.
This book gives the reader a picture of the man that augments even the best biographies.
Worth the time and money.

The conversations young Lord Mahon (later Earl Stanhope) recorded for posterity with the Duke of Wellington are certainly valuable on more than an historic note. These pages give a unique insight into the character of Wellington, illuminating his sense of duty to England and also his refreshing sense of humor. For a man who was known for his reserve and reticence, this book shows him to be quite open and frank on nearly all topics. The last years of the Duke's life are especially moving as Lord Mahon describes in detail the various illnesses that afflict the old warrior's body but never seem to overtake his mind. Anyone interested in the events of the last century and particularly the period of the Napoleonic Wars will enjoy this book. Wellington certainly ranks as one of the foremost figures of that era.

This serves as a great introduction - not too large but plenty in it - to traditional Irish music. After an evening in a pub in the west of Ireland we picked this up in the airport shops on the way homeward. Highly recommended for musicians and certainly for fans of Irish and 'Celtic' music and culture.

Table of Contents

Music in Early and Medieval Ireland
Tudor and Stuart Ireland
Jacobites, Dancing Masters and the Penal Era
Music of the Exiles 1700-1830
Pipers, Spallpins and Patriots: Pre-Famine Ireland
Silence in the Land of Song: Post-Famine Ireland
Quebec to the Klondike: The Famine Diaspora
Records, Radios and Halls: `The New Century'
Ennis, Ó Riada and the Fleadh: A Tradition Restored
From Friels' Kitchen to the New Millennium
Glossary of Traditional Music Terms
Music, Song and Dance Collections
Traditional Music Organisations
Select Discography
A Note on Session Etiquette

I have been interested in Irish music for so long but never found a book that really covered the music in any kind of context. This is a brilliant handy little book which I have often used as an affordable gift. It covers all the historical bases as well as the modern groups and performers. Highly recommended!

It lacks an index, but helpful headings on almost every page help you find sections. Really "covers the map" including topics such as Irish Traditional Music in Quebec or The Scots-Irish in the Appalachians. It profiles important musicians in the history of Irish music, but I wanted more details on the recent (1970s-2000) artists.
The list of traditional music organizations, glossary, discography and note on session etiquette were useful.
Good for getting the basic background on Irish music, but I recommend taking a look at Far from the Shamrock Shore for a more emotional, yet historical look at the same topic.

Ireland is about continued British colonialism, not religion. Ireland is about hundreds of years of struggle, not incurable hatred. Irelands rounds of struggle continue as does Britain's attempt to hold on. Devlin here is concise, accurate, and gets it all in with very few worlds. A good short introduction to the realities of the Irish struggle.

In 1918 fully 85% of Ireland voted for Sinn Fein, the party of Irish independence from Britain. We don't hear much about this vote or the British reaction to it--overturning the election, bombing parliament, jailing the newly elected representatives as well as many others. McAliskey tells us about this as well as about the British policy of internment without trial (which reminds us of the current policy of jailing immigrants). After reading this pamphlet you will see why Jerry Adams and the current Sinn Fein play such an important role in the world, despite ceaseless slander against Irish republicanism.

Excellent source of historical information. I saw Devlin give a speech once in the early 80s in Montreal. Also the text of a public presentation, this short pamphlet has the same qualities I remember: relaxed, knowledgeable discourse, great breadth of understanding, amused and amusing - and an unshakeable conviction that Ireland will be united. Fascinating detail on Irish history. When she explains how London ignored a perfectly democratic Irish vote in 1918 for independence and launched a civil war, you can't help but agree that Sinn Fein has truth and justice on its side today! Her Ireland is coloured by the 1960s civil rights movement in the US, draws strength from the World War I protesters in Ireland who refused conscription, saying they would fight "for neither king nor kaiser," and has never stopped pushing to be free. Makes perfectly clear why London is going to have to give Ireland back to its citizens, whether it likes it or not.

Almost certainly the most important book of my lifetime. "One Day In My Life" brings the horror and hell of Long Kesh back into the front lines. This short book will bring readers to their knees. As important as "Night" by Eli Weisel to the Holocaust, Bobby Sands is to the Irish troubles. Even if you're not involved or agree with the struggle of the I.R.A. in Northern Ireland, please read this book!
[...]

This book brings home the tragedy of the Statelet of Northern Ireland. My main impression after reading it was that the British Government are guilty of appaling crimes and a total lack of respect for human rights. The people of Britain are disgusted with the justice systems of many 'barbaric' nations, this book shows that the British justice system is guilty of crimes which equal, if not surpass, those perpetrated by any other nation. It is difficult to read this book without shedding a tear, not only for Bobby Sands, but for the countless others who have fallen victim to British 'Justice'.

Book Review: One Day In My Life

OT 02/25/02 05:30

Feb 25, 2002 (M2 Best Books via COMTEX) --

'One Day in My Life' documents a day in late winter, 1979, in which Irish
Republican activist Bobby Sands endures the horrors and humiliations of life in Long
Kesh prison. Bobby Sands was one of many Blanket Men - so- called because they
refused to succumb to being classed as criminals, and so wore blankets instead of
prison uniform - who embarked on numerous protests in an attempt to sway the
attitudes and practices of the British authorities in Ireland.

Every page of this book, from front to back cover, is instilled with
contentious political ire. As this reviewer is a British citizen, I am perhaps
not best placed to fully evaluate the motivations and morality of an Irish
Republican. From the foreword by Gerry Adams onwards, the question invoked in
my mind time and time again was whether the treatment of Bobby Sands and his
fellow Blanket Men was a crime against human decency committed in my name, or a
terrible means to a justifiable end - that is to protect British citizens against the
threat of domestic terrorism. As Bobby Sands and three other men shared a sentence of
eighty-four years for being found in possession of a solitary hand gun, it seems that
the punishment meted out to Bobby Sands was inordinately huge.

Better men than I have raged in blind conviction for both sides of that
argument, and the one thing I am certain of in regard to that issue is that it
will not be answered in the course of a book review. With that in mind I
believe the best way to approach this book is by viewing it as a personal
account of one man's struggle to survive in a hellish existence.

Bobby Sands, alike with the rest of the Blanket-Men, could have extricated
himself from much of the hardship he endured if he were to renounce his claims
that he was a political prisoner and allow himself to be criminalised. This, he and

many others refused to do, and the courage they had in their own convictions -
irrespective of what exactly those beliefs were - is a staggering example of the
strength of man's will.

This document was written on toilet paper using a biro pen refill, and was
concealed within Bobby Sands' own body. During the course of the book it is
revealed that there was but one pencil and one pen refill which was passed man
to man around the entire block. The scarcity of toilet paper is also recounted. These
two facts alone - probably the two tamest indications of the quality of life inside
the H-blocks that could be found in 'One Day in My Life', illustrate the fact that
this book is a labour. Yet no matter how difficult and harrowing it becomes to read
the reader feels duty bound to continue as the very process of recording this
information must have been infinitely more torturous for the author.

The day recounted in 'One Day in My Life' is a squalid microcosm of everything
we fear about being incarcerated. Men are starved, routinely beaten, verbally
and physically abused, and made to live in enforced conditions of filth - with
human waste, mouldy food and congealed rubbish lining the walls and floors of
their unheated cells. Surely even the staunchest advocate of the Thatcherite
British government of the late 1970's would have to concede that the treatment
of the men in the H-blocks - be they political prisoners of war or merely
criminals - was an offence against human decency, in fact an offence against
humanity itself. The Blanket Men were not merely robbed of their liberty, they
were there to be broken by the authorities who knew that to break the will of
the Blanket Men would crush the spirits of their countless supporters in both
Ireland and the United Kingdom. But they would not be broken.

In the introduction to this book a quote from the original edition is
reprinted. Sean MacBride - co-founder of Amnesty International and Nobel Peace
Prize winner - states that 'the majority of ordinary decent people in England
are not really interested in what happens in Ireland'. That was also true of
this reviewer until I read 'One Day in My Life'.

Perhaps the worst aspect of Bobby Sands' recounting of his prison day is that
there is no respite for either him or the reader. The realisation that the day
he has recorded is in fact a typical one for the inmates of the H-block is a
terrible moment and one which makes it hard for the reader to detach this story of
human courage and survival from its political roots. For all Bobby Sands is left with
at the end of the day is the hope - in fact the unwavering belief - that as he says
'our day will come'.

The events which are documented in this book seem like they occurred in some
strange land in a dim and distant uncivilised age. In fact they occurred just
over two decades ago, and no doubt there are people today who are living the
same nightmare that Bobby Sands endured. Read this book as a humanitarian
warning of what crimes were and - are still are - being perpetrated by the
governments of the world in the names of their citizens.

CONCLUSION: 'One Day in My Life' is a seemingly hopeless tale which manages to
leave its lone moment of respite to the very last moment - when we have nothing left
to us but our humanity, and when even that is stolen away our will still remains...

This book was written by a scientist who is also a mystic who had an out-of-time experience with an historical figure from hundreds of years ago. This would be fascinating if it was just fiction, however I was there. I saw this all unfold and it is amazing to see it spelled out in this crisp, intriguing and lean story. Looking back from this vantage point of years later I can see the impossibility of these things being just "coincidence." This much-maligned historical figure, Juana "La Locca" of Spain, called out into this century to be vindicated -- and she chose a top scientist to entrust her story to. Although I was witness to these events from the outside as they were unfolding, reading this personal journal gave me new insight into the depth and implications of Paul's experience. I'm glad this was presented as just the way it happened and not embellished with interpretations of what all these things meant. Truth is stranger than fiction. This experience of Paul Casey's truly weaves the fabric of our material world with that of multiple dimensions of worlds together in a startling and intriguing tapestry that is absolutely riviting. And it is all true. I highly recommend it for all those who have ever contemplated life beyond this one.

Open the Coffin by Paul Casey is an amazing book by an amazing man. The book encompasses many of his abilities, including his scientific and mystical abilities as well as his special spangled cats and his technical creativity. But beyond all, this book is the story of his psychic abilities intruding into his everyday life and causing him to relive the life of Juana of Spain, a monarch who once ruled the entire world, but still be unable to save her from her fate. Paul's interrelationship with this woman is the main subject of the book. I was kept on the edge of my chair by the suspense inherent in the activities of someone whose life is continuously interrupted by the life of a queen who lived 400 years ago. Once I picked the book up, I couldn't put it down. Don't miss this stimulating and exciting book! You'll really miss out if you do!

Suzy Vaughan

This is the answer to any gift-giving dilemna you may have; the "person who has everything" does not have a book like this! My fascination with royal history as well as my love of cats drew me to this book. It would be a worthwhile read solely for those qualities but it offers so much more! Nearly every reader likes one or more of the categories this book encompasses: history, mystery, humor, intrigue, action, romance, true-life adventure... Paul Casey's supreme storytelling keeps the reader riveted from the first page to the last as more and more amazing events unfold in the true tale of Juana, the forgotten queen of Spain and her presence in the modern world.

This concise and very well written book is thoughtful distillation of the enormous literature related to the onset of WWII in Europe. The simple question, who started WWII, has a simple answer. It was Adolf Hitler. The simple answer obscures a whole series of considerably more difficult questions. How did a marginal figure and 4th-rate ideologue like Hitler come to rule the most powerful state in Europe? Why wasn't there more initial resistance to Hitler? What was the role of the Great Depression? To what extent did the post-WWI settlement lead to WWII? What was the role of the Soviet Union and Stalin? Many other questions arise. Bell deals with many of these issues in a series of well crafted chapters. The book opens by framing the issues, including a short but worthwhile discussion of historiographic issues, follows by discussing underlying factors such as ideology, economics, the role of the depression, the roles of the military postures adopted by the major actors, and then concludes with a nice narrative of the outbreak of war. Bell very intelligently extends his narrative beyond 1939 to the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union, pointing out that it is these later events that allow assessment of the role of key ideological factors in the coming of WWII. This book is worth reading just for the chapters dealing with the consequences of the Great Depression. A theme throughout the book is the limited options possessed by the leaders of France and Britain. Given their internal political situations, some form of appeasement was inevitable, though consistently unpalatable. I have a couple of minor complaints. I don't think Bell deals with the uncertain nature of politics in the Weimar Republic. Hitler's accession to power was not inevitable. While some form of reactionary German government bent on reversing the settlement of WWI was probably inevitable, it could have been one dominated by more traditional conservatives. This type of leadership would have been amenable to the type of accomodation and diplomacy attempted by Chamberlain and the French leadership. It is clear also, in retrospect, that few in Europe really understood the depth of the Nazi racial preoccupations and their bizarre model of history, a tragic though understandable mistake.

This is a great book everyone should read, I salute it.

Bell does a fine job of looking at just what brought about the Second World War. He explains its connections to the Great War, by first discussing the idea of a Thirty Years War, and by then examining how the first war and its results brought about the second. Bell also provides readers with the roles and views of the various ideologies and the many desires for and against war, and also the many strategies involved with each of the main players. An excellent book for anyone wishing to better understand the differing forces and actions which brought about this war.