This book looks at the events leading to the World War II, the most widespread war in history, in which the major participants used all their industrial, economic and scientific might to wage 'total war'. It examines the legacy of the war, both in terms of the bad things that came out of it, such as the fear and mistrust between the USA and Russia that led to the Cold War, and the good things, including advances in medicine and computing and the establishment of the United Nations.