作者P.E. Caquet 收集了至今从未发布过的记录以及资料，探讨了当时1938年同盟国的幕尼黑协议如何导致悲惨的后果，引发二次世界大战。
 
1938年9月30日，英国保守党政治人士（也是未来的英国首相）Neville Chamberlain，在跟希特勒签署一份划分捷克斯洛伐克的协议后，对群众作出以下的发言： “My good friends…I believe it is peace for our time. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Go home and get a nice quiet sleep.” 没想到丘吉尔的回应是：“你选择了羞辱国家，我们即将进入战争”。
 
作者P.E. Caquet回述了慕尼黑协议前夕的数数事件以及它带来的效应，并第一次从捷克斯洛伐克人民的角度来看待这个协议。他收集了当时的媒体报导、回忆录、日记、军事纪录、内阁纪录、电台广播纪录等等，完整呈现了现代欧洲历史上最丑陋的一段经历。这是一个紧张刺激的外交关系历史，也是一个经典的道德难题。捷克斯洛伐克人被困在自己的国家里，他們知道希特勒有多危险，也知道自己的未来不光明。最可惜的是，英国以及法国当时在慕尼黑有机会阻止希特勒，但是他們错过了这个机会，从此改变了历史。
 
关于作者：
P.E. Caquet是剑桥大学 Hughes Hall的资深成员之一。他在剑桥大学获取历史学博士学位。
 
好评： 
“Caquet revisits luminously one of the great ‘what-ifs’ of history. Carefully documenting every detail, but in white-hot language, he shows how Britain and France let slip at Munich in September 1938 their best chance of stopping Hitler. We see the Sudetenland crisis afresh through Czech eyes, and can measure at last the tragedy of that lively small country’s betrayal.” —Robert O. Paxton, author of The Anatomy of Fascism
 
“Caquet’s superb new account restores agency and subjectivity to the Czechoslovaks. Grippingly written with an eye for drama and dialogue, this book shows how close they came to resisting and just how traumatic the outcome was, not only for them but for the German democrats handed over to the Third Reich.” —Brendan Simms, author of Britain’s Europe
 
“What strikes the modern reader is how this is so much more than mere history—it is a frightening exploration of dangers that we see in the world today: fake news, lying politicians, and narrow-minded nationalisms all conspiring to threaten what is decent and open and honest. In this respect The Bell of Treason is more than compelling reading: it is essential.” —Simon Mawer, author of The Glass Room