India, Oct. 6 -- To Debbie Owen,who made it all possible.

Dear Reader,

After fifty years of storytelling, I have decided the time has come to write my final novel.

I first had the idea for Adam & Eve when reading a speech Adolf Hitler made in 1940 that caused Winston Churchill to respond in kind in the House of Commons later that year.

Churchill's words inspired me to read several more speeches by both war leaders, while at the same time seeking advice from two eminent historians, even before picking up my pen to write Adam & Eve.

The idea itself was simple enough: if Hitler hadn't changed his mind, three times, on 15 September 1940, concerning Operation Seelowe, could the Second World War have ended within days, and which side would...