Book excerpt: This book provides a chilling account of the events leading up to World War I, focusing on the infamous "Lie of the 3rd of August". The author argues that this lie, which was used to justify German aggression against France, played a critical role in the outbreak of the war. The text is well-researched and provocative, making it an important contribution to our understanding of this pivotal historical event. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.