The Origins of the Second World War

(Paperback)

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Description

In this account of the origins of World War II, Taylor provides a narrative of the years and events preceding Hitler's invasion of Poland on 1st of September 1939. The historian debunks previously accepted truths about World War II, arguing that Hitler did not set out to cause the war as part of an evil master plan, but blundered into it partly by accident, aided by the shortcomings of others.

Reviews

Taylor's most perfect work of art, a miracle of proportion, language and insight * Robert Skidelsky *
A dazzling exercise in revisionism which summed up Taylor's paradoxical, provocative and inventive approach to history * The Times *
Taylor was a lifelong dissenter ... at his best - as in The Origins of the Second World War ... he shifted the gorund of major debates -- Ben Pimlott * Financial Times *
No historian of the past century has been more accessible -- Niall Ferguson * Sunday Telegraph *
An almost faultless masterpiece * Observer *
Highly original and penetrating ... No one who has digested this enthralling work will ever be able to look at the period again in quite the same way * Sunday Telegraph *

Author Bio

A.J.P. Taylor (1906-1990) was one of the most controversial historians of the twentieth century. He served as a lecturer at the Universities of Manchester, Oxford, and London.