From the Introductory:
“The present work is designed as a contemporary history of the great conflict of nations forced upon Europe and the world by the aggressive action of the German Government and the “senseless ambition” of its Nazi dictator, the issue and extend of which, at the writing of this introductory note, cannot be foreseen with certitude.
Our plan is to examine and narrate, as briefly as may be consistent with adequate statement, all the factors that led up to the momentous declaration of war on September 3, 139, so that anyone reading the successive chapters of THE SECOND GREAT WAR should be able to form a proper appreciation of the basic principles at stake, to distinguish “beyond a peradventure” between those who had the will for peace and those whose hearts and minds were set upon war though peace was often on their lips.
...... This is the work of a group of able and well-informed contributors whose qualifications embrace extensive and peculiar knowledge of the full range of subjects involved: recent history, modern politics, especially “power politics” and military, naval and aerial affairs.
..... Great pains have been taken to associate with the literary chapters a selection of pictorial documents which particularly illustrate these chapters, as well as many hundreds of independent duo-tone plates, that may for generations constitute one of the fines graphic representations of the historic events with which our narrative is concerned. "
