1938 Germany is not ready for war, but Hitler intends to take over Czechoslovakia. Great Britain is not ready for war, but is obliged to stand together with France in defense of the Czechs. Prime Minister Chamberlain seeks Hitler's agreement to a meeting, hoping to reach a compromise. Hugh Legate is a rising star in British diplomacy, Chamberlain's personal secretary. Paul von Hartmann is an employee of the German Foreign Ministry and a participant in the anti-Hitler conspiracy. The men were friends when they were at Oxford in the 1920s, but have had no contact since. And now they are about to meet in Munich. One goes there to prevent a new world war at all costs, the other to start it immediately. For the first time in Russian!