As the summer of 1938 ends, the two sides of the Spanish civil war are still locked in a blood-soaked stalemate; Stalin's purge of the Red Army is barely underway. And Neville Chamberlain--sickened by the arrogance and duplicity of the Germans who have brought him to Munich--does not return to London waving the piece of paper that would deliver the arms factories of Czechoslovakia to Hitler and postpone the war until 1939. On October 1, German tanks cross the Czech frontier, touching off declarations of war from France, from England, from the USSR. Poland, fearing the Russians more than Hitler, declares war on the German side...