A.J.P. Taylor (1906-1990) was one of the most brilliant historians of the twentieth century. He served as a lecturer at the Universities of Manchester, Oxford, and London.

'The most readable, sceptical and original of modern historians' - Michael Foot 'Remarkable ... Taylor here manages in some 200 illustrated pages to say almost everything that is important for an understanding and, indeed, intellectual digestion of that vast event' Observer 'It is unlikely that there will be a more satisfactory compact survey of that Armageddon' Newsweek 'What makes Taylor's book outstanding is his capacity to penetrate through the undergrowth of controversy and conflicting interpretation to the central truth' New York Review of Books 'Probably the most controversial historian in the English-speaking world' The Times