** spoiler alert ** The book revisits the causes and consequences of WWII. Buchanan says the British were neither forced to fight the Nazis, nor were they obliged to do so on their own. On the contrary, wrong parliamentary decisions led to the war. The Nazis didn't know where it would all lead. They only knew that they had to take back what was lost at Versailles in 1919. By continuesly opposing to this Britain provoked the war, ultimately with the Polish war guarantee: with Danzig being in Poland, the Nazis had no choice (apparently). And if Britain was alone, they had single-handedly distanced themselves from their Allies (Japan, Italy, Russia), only to find themselves left with an anguished France in 1939.
It is always fascinating to read revisionist literature on such a covered topic as WW11. Churchill surely used all his creative skills to keep alive the image of an isolated island fighting the evils of the world on their own.
By his use of imperial imagery, the author almost makes the reader regret the fall of the British Empire.
However, the reader is not convinced that fighting fascism in the 30's was not urgent. He reduces the UK's experiences from the Second World War to a lesson for today's American voters: choose which wars are necessary. Irak or Afghanistan are not vital to American interests. Neither was fighting the Nazis for Britain, he says. All in all it has more the taste of contemporary political commentary than history (Buchanan has sought the Republican presidential nomination twice).