The Origins Of World War II

Description for THE ORIGINS OF WORLD WAR II by Keith Eubank:

EUROPE SINCE 1500: A PAPERBOUND SERIES. Each of the books in this series focuses upon a central theme or issue that has presented European historians with problems of interpretation. The volumes have been written by specialists on the topics covered, and in every case the author has reached his conclusions after weighing the evidence of recent scholarship. Designed for use in both survey and period courses, the series will comprise a resource of interpretive writings from which European history teachers may select titles to meet their specific needs.

This book has been written to explain the origins of the world war that began in 1939 and ended with 30,000,000 people dead and unbelievable devastation over a large part of the world. The failure to avoid this war was doubly dreadful because the outbreak of hostilities came so soon after the bloody world war that had ended in 1918. Consequently, questions about the origins of World War II and about why it could not have been prevented are extremely important. After the ordeal of 1914-1918, why had those in authority erred in assessing the threat that loomed across the Rhine? Why had there been so much reluctance to confront a once-defeated foe? Why had the aggressor been permitted to rearm? This book attempts to provide some answers to these questions.