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Churchill, Hitler and "The Unnecessary War"

How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost the World

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Churchill, Hitler and "The Unnecessary War"

By: Patrick J. Buchanan
Narrated by: Don Leslie
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 Were World Wars I and II–which can now be seen as a thirty-year paroxysm of slaughter and destruction–inevitable? Were they necessary wars? Were the bloodiest and most devastating conflicts ever suffered by mankind fated by forces beyond man’s control? Or were they products of calamitous failures of judgment? In this monumental and provocative history, Patrick Buchanan makes the case that, if not for the blunders of British statesmen–Winston Churchill first among them–the horrors of two world wars and the Holocaust might have been avoided and the British Empire might never have collapsed into ruins. Half a century of murderous oppression of scores of millions under the iron boot of Communist tyranny might never have happened, and Europe’s central role in world affairs might have been sustained for many generations.

Among the British and Churchillian blunders were:
• The vengeful Treaty of Versailles that mutilated Germany, leaving her bitter, betrayed, and receptive to the appeal of Adolf Hitler • Britain’s capitulation, at Churchill’s urging, to American pressure to sever the Anglo-Japanese alliance, insulting and isolating Japan • The greatest blunder in British history: the unsolicited war guarantee to Poland of March 1939–that guaranteed the Second World War

Certain to create controversy and spirited argument, CHURCHILL, HITLER AND “THE UNNECESSARY WAR” is a grand and bold insight into the historic failures of judgment that ended centuries of European rule and guaranteed a future that no one who lived in that vanished world could ever have envisioned.©2008 Patrick J. Buchanan; (P)2008 Books on Tape 20th Century Europe Germany Great Britain Military Modern Political Science Politics & Government World War Winston Churchill Interwar Period Imperialism England Royalty Russia Soviet Union Self-Determination Holocaust Refugee Africa Franklin D Roosevelt Middle Ages
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Buchanan does a masterful job of laying out both sides of history regarding this era. It truly is the victors who write history.

Must read for any 20th century enthusiast.

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This book was well written, well argued, but I don’t entirely agree with all the assumptions. Namely that Churchill was naive in regards to Stalin, I think history shows that it was Roosevelt that was naive to Stalin, Churchill wanted to protect Poland and Stalin mocked him in front of Roosevelt who also mocked Churchill. Also the assumption that the US didn’t involve themselves and overseas wars was conveniently forgotten a.k.a. Vietnam. And as an Australian and friend of America I see the great threat to American democracy now is in the Republican Party. Some of the nutcase politicians they have following Trump are frankly an embarrassment to democracy and it’s a party that needs to get back to its basics and its Conservative roots rather than radical extremism. The author also spoke about the US not making the British mistake of defeating one monster only to allow another one to go free. Oh what happened in Russia is the Cold War ended quickly but allowed criminals to take charge in the Soviet or former Soviet Union and most of its countries. As a Russian person said to me, 5% of people are rich and I criminals the rest of us are poor. Is that worse than what communism was I don’t know and of course Marxism is not dead in China which are also presenting a threat, admittedly the author does mention this.

Having said all of that though I do recommend people read the book because the historical analysis around Hitler in the 1930s and what Germany‘s intentions truly were is very good and worth hearing.

Well argued but not totally convincing

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The learnings of the mistakes of those that come before us are much more palatable than to blindly repeat them. A fascinating take on the politics of the world wars.

A must read

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The details that we were never told at school. The mythology of Churchill is astounding when you know more about him and what he was responsible for.

Enlightening

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