Relapse into Bondage is the political memoir of Alexandru Cretzianu, a key Romanian diplomat during the interwar period and World War II. Cretzianu faithfully presents himself as pro-Western, pro-French, pro-British, and pro-League of Nations. He demonstrates that Romania did not freely join the Axis, but had no alternative but to do so after Britain and France abandoned the Little Entente in 1938. Cretzianu’s memoirs are a gold mine of information for those interested in all aspects of Romanian foreign policy during this critical period, as well as in European diplomatic history generally.

The editor, Sherman David Spector, was a professor of history at Russell Sage College in Troy, New York. His other works include Romania at the Paris Peace Conference: A Study in the Diplomacy of Ioan I.C. Bratianu.