ABSTRACT
Mind was obsessed by the impression of the terrific Germany had seen and felt in action during the years of 1914 to 1918 suddenly becoming again possessed of all her martial power, while the Allies, who had so narrowly survived, gaped idle and bewildered. Churchill, 1948 Although Winston Churchill famously said, “History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it”, his account of the origins of the Second World War, The Gathering Storm, is woefully inadequate as an historical analysis in understanding how war came and demonstrates the limitations of a politician-historian. Churchill’s history of interwar British foreign and defence policy and his defenestration of appeasement is summarised best with his theme for The Gathering Storm: “How the English-speaking peoples through their unwisdom, carelessness, and good nature allowed the wicked to rearm.” His is a tale of folly on the part of successive British leaders.
