It is a portrait gallery of European dictators and statesmen of the 1930's and early '40's, their rivals and associates and underlings. But it is also much more than that. For the men personify policies, are shown tackling the vital problems of a war-scarred continent; and the book as a whole becomes a complete, fast-moving close-up of Europe of the period. It is a big book, running now to some 265,000 words. It bulges with inside, backstage facts, dictators' secrets; for Gunther is a consummate reporter who knows the European capitals like the back of his hand, has an unerring nose for news even in the most unlikely places, and goes after the human as well as the political items. The present edition contains a bibliography of the changes that have been made in the various editions.