From the introduction: It all started innocently enough, a few well-placed policies by various governments around the world to improve cooperation between nations and encourage mutual disarmament; for once it seemed that politicians had been able to put aside their mutual distrust of each other and work for the common good of the entire human race. If only they’d known that they were being manipulated by an outside force intent on ensuring that their conquest of earth was as easy as possible perhaps their reactions might have been different. We found out the truth of the matter on the day that the saucers came.