ABSTRACT
Against the backcloth of the first half of the twentieth century men appear as a species of furious dwarfs bent upon self extermination and the destruction of their civilization. In 1870 the rise of Germany had been curbed by Bismarck short of disaster, but the seeds of hate and fear had been sown, and the dragon’s teeth sprouted. Of the European family nearly nine million men had been killed, and more than twenty million maimed. Throughout all Europe men and women who had survived the holocaust found themselves homeless, starving, denied the dignity of labour. Nevertheless British power had been gravely curtailed, and her position in the Far East undermined by American insistence that she should break off her alliance with Japan. It was an alliance based upon strategic realities. Soldiers, sailors, airmen, strategists, diplomats, journalists, all in well-placed positions collected information for him with enthusiasm, and a deep sense of purpose.
