Dusk of empire

"My purpose in these chapters is to picture the changing Europe as I saw it during my years as foreign correspondent for American newspapers and magazines -- from 1910 until now [1937]. I do not seek to reveal all the underlying reasons why Europe has not maintained her proud position, why she is prepared to take a further step downward, or why, with much more to lose than before the first World War, she again treads so perilously near war's precipice. My intention is to expose the decay that started the landslip, the extent to which it has spread, the imminence of the avalanche."--p. x.