ABSTRACT
This essay was first published as a review of L.B. Namier, Diplomatic Prelude 1938-9 (London, Macmillan, 194B), in the Manchester Guardian (10 January 1948). Alan Taylor was much influenced by Lewis Namier (1888-1960), who had been Professor of Modern History (1931-53) for all but his first year at Manchester University; not least by this book on the origins of the Second World War.
