Whether one fully accepts the breathtaking scope of Docherty and Macgregor's conspiracy or not, it is impossible to dismiss their work out of hand. Hidden History and Prolonging the War are not merely books; they are an indictment. They force a fundamental re-examination of the origins and conduct of the First World War, shifting the blame from abstract forces and a generalized "failure of diplomacy" to the calculated actions of a specific, powerful group. Their ultimate conclusion is that the First World War was a planned, triggered, and prolonged operation to establish a new world order. The war bankrupted Europe, transferred global financial hegemony from London to New York, led to the creation of the League of Nations (a proto-global government), and redrew the world map to the advantage of the British Empire and its American allies. The millions of dead in the trenches of the Somme, at Verdun, and at Passchendaele were, in this chilling analysis, not the victims of a tragic accident, but the calculated price for this geopolitical transformation.
These books are essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the Great War beyond the standard textbooks. They may not provide the final, definitive word, but they pose the most uncomfortable and necessary of questions: What if it wasn't an accident? What if it was by design? And what if the very institutions we remember as beacons of hope in the darkness were, in fact, part of the machinery that kept the darkness in place? The answers, as suggested by Docherty and Macgregor, are as disturbing as they are persuasive.
