Trusting in the principle of individual freedom, and upon the sound instinct and understanding of her people, she leaves it to each citizen to make his choice whether, and in what manner, he shall serve his country.

Never have responsibilities so arduous and so urgent been laid upon the citizens of any community: and never have the citizens been so free to choose or to decline the burden.
The world will judge Great Britain, and judge Democracy, according to the measure of our free response.
What is the nature of the responsibility cast upon us at this crisis?
It is threefold.

It concerns the present, the past, and the future.

There are three questions which every citizen must needs ask, and try to answer, for himself.

The first and most urgent is a matter of present decision: What is my duty here and now?
The second involves a judgment of past events: Why is it that we are at war?
Are we fighting in a just cause?
The third involves an estimate of the future and of the part which British public opinion can and should play in shaping it: What are the issues involved in the various belligerent countries?
What should be the principles of a just settlement?
How can Great Britain best use her influence in the cause of human progress and for the welfare of the peoples involved in the war?
It is with the second and especially with the third of these responsibilities that this volume is concerned.
"What is the war about ?" "Are we fighting in a just cause ?" Every one by now has asked himself this question, and most people have studied some at least of the evidence, and tried to satisfy themselves as to the answer.
The Foreign Office White Paper and numberless books and pamphlets have enlightened the public on many of the questions at issue.