1939; The Making of the Second World War
Jerry Bauer (Author's photograph) New York, N.Y. Simon and Schuster, 1973. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. 455, [3] pages. DJ has some wear and soiling. Includes Acknowledgments, List of Illustrations, Introduction, Illustrations. Notes to Chapters, Sources, and Index. Chapters cover A Bloodless Triumph; War in the West?; Viorel Virgil Tilea; Making a Stand; "A Long, Solid and Durable Front"; Enter the Russians; Danzig or Poland?; The "Menacing Silence"; Appeasement Cremated; Moscow Morass; Exit the Russians; Crisis; The Coming of the German-Polish War; The Hours to World War; Also includes Notes to Chapters, Sources, and Index. Illustrated with 30 black and white photographs following page 114. Sidney Aster is a professor emeritus at the University of Toronto Mississauga, Historical Studies Department, and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He completed his Ph.D. in international history at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He became a principal research assistant to Sir Martin Gilbert, who was the official biographer of Sir Winston Churchill. Aster collaborated with V. V. Tilea, Romanian Minister to London, 1938-1940, Sir William Seeds, British Ambassador to Moscow, 1938-1941, and the British industrialist, A.P. Young, on the latter’s involvement with the German resistance. For several years he also met with Arthur Salter to discuss the latter’s multi-faceted career as an international civil servant, MP, cabinet minister, journalist and author. He published three books in four years: 1939, The Making of the Second World War, Anthony Eden: A Biography, and The “X” Documents, The Secret History of Foreign Office Contacts with the German Resistance. Based on the release of the most critical state papers of the British Government, this book tells for the first time the exact course of events that led to the outbreak of World War II, using revelations from private letters, Cabinet memoranda, handwritten minutes, and formerly sealed archives to illuminate the actions, decisions, concerns, and fears of the European leaders and cabinets as they found themselves sliding helplessly toward war. For the first time,it is possible to understand the failure of Allied strategy, to learn the truth about the various flamboyant "peace missions" that resulted in so much misunderstanding, to realize the importance of the Cabinet revolt at 10 Downing street n the night of September 2, which brought the British and French governments into the war. As a work of history, this is a book of capital importance, one that must henceforth be taken into account in explaining and understanding the causes of the war--but it is also a breathtaking and terrifying narrative, a kind of modern Greek tragedy, shot through with terrible ironies, personal confrontations, and desperate last-minute attempts to postpone or avoid the inevitable. Derived from a Kirk's review: Drawing on British documents released in 1970, Aster's general thesis seems to be that nothing would have stopped Hitler; therefore don't blame the appeasers too much. Aster shows that even after the September invasion of Poland, the Chamberlain government fussed around trying to patch things up with Hitler at Poland's expense, despite the nation's outrage, which finally forced a declaration of war. Aster repeatedly demonstrates how Chamberlain refused to make the ultimate appeasement -- allowing Hitler a totally free hand in Eastern Europe -- but fails to explain why, having denied that the British had any stakes there since 1914. The book is best read as an analytic study of appeasement. Condition: Very good / Good.
Keywords: World War II, Appeasement, Josef Beck, Alexander Cadogan, Neville Chamberlain, Lord Halifax, Nevile Henderson, Ivan Maisky, Orme Sergent, William Seeds, Vansittart, Horace Wilson, Jerry Bauer
ISBN: 9780671216894
[Book #82304]
Price: $50.00