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"Overy's book is easily the best account of Europe's descent into...death and destruction." --Evening Standard (London) A brilliantly concise narrative of the days leading to the outbreak of history's greatest conflagration, 1939 takes readers hour by hour through the nail-biting decisions that determined the fate of millions. Richard Overy, a leading historian of the period, masterfully recreates the jockeying for advantage that set Europe's greatest powers on a collision course. Would Stalin join Hitler in a bid to divide Poland and flout the West? Would Britain and France succeed in forcing Germany to reason? And how far would a defiant Poland push its claim to exist? In the summer of 1939, the course of events was anything but assured, as this exceptionally absorbing book drives home.
Been on a narrative history binge for a year. This one is a beautiful and gripping look on the seven days prior to Germany invading Poland. Love the drama FB characters involved.
1939: Countdown to War | 
