The Darkest Days: The Truth Behind Britain’s Rush to War, 1914 - Hardcover

"Should Britain have entered the war in 1914? This question has recently aroused controversy. As Douglas Newton shows, it was controversial in 1914, too. This book is a compellingly written, tightly argued, deeply researched and bracingly revisionist study of the decisions that led to British intervention. Newton uproots many hardy myths and reveals the deep divisions within the political elite of a country on the brink of war." - Christopher Clark, author of The Sleepwalkers "Sound and informative." - Keith Robbins in praise of British Labour, European Socialism and the Struggle for Peace 1889-1914, Times Literary Supplement "Newton writes well, and with a feel for the tragedy of the Great War missing in most accounts ... the scholarship invested in this work is meticulous." - John McDermott, in praise of British Policy and the Weimar Republic 1918-1919, International History Review "Newton's history is meticulously researched ..." - Jill Liddington in praise of British Labour, European Socialism and the Struggle for Peace 1889-1914, History Workshop Journal

The Darkest Days shows how the war-hungry leaders and the right-wing press hustled the nation into war, making only the barest efforts to save the peace. As a result the declaration was the result of political negotiation, dishonesty and willful belligerence that split the cabinet and kept the opposition and the nation itself in the dark until it was too late. Through a forensic study of the personal papers of many of the key figures on both sides of the debate, historian Douglas Newton pieces together what really went on in the frenetic weeks between the assassination in Sarajevo and Britain's declaration of war upon Germany on Tuesday 4 August 1914. Many recently published histories of Britain's Great War embrace the conflict as a good war - irresistible, righteous - and popular. It has become almost heretical to offer criticism of Britain's intervention. This book presents a new critical examination of the government's choice for war, and weaves into the story an account of those "radicals" and other activists who urged neutral diplomacy in 1914.