THE FATEFUL YEARS

Based on his dispatches from Berlin- which ran to forty volumes- these are the memoirs of the French Ambassador covering his years of service in the German capital, 1931-1938. These memoirs which are solely political, never personal, offer another direct testimony of the prelude to war. From Bruning's downfall and the end of parliamentary democracy in Germany, to the advent of Hitler and the elimination of all his adversaries; the break with the League; the German-Polish accord; Germany's rearmament; the absorption of Austria; the Saar plebescite; the end of Locarno; the disposal of von Fritsch; the alliance with Mussolini; and finally Munich, inevitable result of Britain's weakness. Once again there is the portrait of Hitler and his insatiable will to power, his temerity and his obduracy, his pride and his brutality... It is very questionable however if this period of past history- and known history- no matter how well recorded- will attract the attention of the general reader today. It will presumably serve however as amplifying, documentary material.