"They saw the growing peril to Britain and the rest of Europe but had no power to do anything about it. Most of them were under fifty; under normal circumstances, they and their contemporaries would now be moving into positions of influence and authority within the government. But there were far too few of them. Theirs was a lost generation, decimated by war. The other young men who likely would have shared their progressive views and their opposition to conciliating the dictators - their brothers, cousins, childhood friends, schoolmates - were lying in graves scattered throughout France and Belgium."