Titans of the 20th Century

As the war draws to a close titans are leaving the scene - Roosevelt dies, Churchill is thrown out of office, Mussolini is shot by 'partisans' and Hitler shoots himself. Harry S Truman, a figure on our fringes, is pitched into the most powerful office in the world and asked to make a terrible decision, Stalin enjoys unrivalled power and sets the scene for forty years of Cold War, India gains independence which Gandhi, assassinated, never sees, and Mao Zedong prevails in China's civil war declaring the People's Republic to bring our story to a close. But not to an end.

Everywhere is now part of our story as we enter a period in history which, like no other, is dominated by the acts and personalities of a small group of powerful leaders - Titans. This is the time for Churchill and Roosevelt, Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini, for Tojo to dominate both public and daily life. Peripheral figures to the main game are still part of the story - Eisenhower, of course, supreme commander in Europe and president-to-be and independence leaders Gandhi in India and De Valera in Ireland.

The Spanish civil war reaches its bloody climax, the League of Nations seems toothless against the aggression of Italy, of Germany and of Japan. Neville Chamberlain is the man of the hour - but Adolf Hitler is the man of the times and 1938 brings a group of our titans together when Chamberlain invents 'shuttle diplomacy' at Munich, joining Hitler and Mussolini and thinking he has secured 'peace for our time' - "Good man!" telegraphs FDR. But peace is the last thing on Hitler's mind and the episode ends with war again burning across Europe.