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 ... Read moreof a country on the brink of war.
Christopher Clark, author of The Sleepwalkers If you want to understand how a Liberal cabinet decided to take Britain to war two days before the German invasion of Belgium, over the protests of a considerable peace movement, read Douglas Newton's eloquent The Darkest Days.
Independent
I felt I was breathing the pure, clear mountain air of real, refreshing history. Not justifying, not rehashing, not regurgitating, but boldly telling what the writer feels very strongly is an important truth, a truth which has reached out of the archives and put its thumb in his eye.
Peter Hitchens
Mail on Sunday
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
International History Review
One of the most thorough modern history texts of recent times.
Jonathan Wright
Twentieth Century British History
Newton's history is meticulously researched.
History Workshop Journal
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