I: The great train crash -- Empires and races -- Orient express -- Fault lines -- The contagion of war -- Graves of nations -- II: Empire-states -- The plan -- Strange folk -- An incidental empire -- Defending the indefensible -- The pity of peace -- III: Killing space -- Blitzkrieg -- Through the looking glass -- Killers and collaborators -- The gates of hell -- IV: A tainted triumph -- The osmosis of war -- Kaputt -- The descent of the west.