The Origins of the Second World War

Now in its fifth edition, The Origins of the Second World War explores the reasons why the Second World War broke out in September 1939 and why a European conflict developed into a war that spanned the globe.

This book argues that the global conflict was not just ‘Hitler’s War’ but one that had its roots and origins in the decline of the old empires of Britain and France and the rise of ambitious new powers in Germany, Italy and Japan who wanted large empires of their own. Richard Overy cove...