Ion Antonescu was Romania's ruler from 6 September 1940 to 23 August 1944 and major ally of Hitler during the Second World War. Romania fielded the third-largest Axis army of the European war, joined the Tripartite Pact on 23 November 1940 as a sovereign state, participated in the attack on the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 as an equal partner of Germany and was never occupied by the Wehrmacht. A military contribution of such magnitude, coupled with the delivery of oil to the German war machine and the personal respect which Antonescu enjoyed from Hitler, places Romania on a par with Italy as a principal ally of Germany, and not in the category of a minor Axis satellite. Antonescu and Nazi Germany offers an understanding of Antonescu's precise role and the policies of his Romania based on the most complete biography of the leader available in English.