Appeasing Hitler : Chamberlain, Churchill and the road to war / Tim Bouverie.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bouverie, Tim, 1987- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Chamberlain, Neville, 1869-1940.

Chamberlain, Neville.

Baldwin, Stanley Baldwin, Earl, 1867-1947.

Baldwin, Stanley Baldwin.

Churchill, Winston, 1874-1965.

Churchill, Winston.

Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945--Friends and associates.

Hitler, Adolf.

Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945.

World War, 1939-1945--Great Britain.

World War, 1939-1945.

Prime ministers--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Prime ministers.

World War, 1939-1945--Diplomatic history.

Diplomatic history.

History.

Friends and associates.

Great Britain--Politics and government--1936-1945.

Great Britain.

Politics and government.

Great Britain--Intellectual life--20th century.

Intellectual life.

Friendship.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xiii, 497 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Vintage Books, 2019.

Summary:

On a wet afternoon in September 1938, Neville Chamberlain stepped off an aeroplane and announced that his visit to Hitler had averted the greatest crisis in recent memory. It was, he later assured the crowd in Downing Street, `peace for our time' - a moment of theatre that was the culmination of over five years of drama. Less than a year later, Germany invaded Poland and the Second World War began.0Beginning with the advent of Hitler in 1933, Appeasing Hitler sweeps from the early days of the Third Reich to the beaches of Dunkirk. We enter the 10 Downing Street of Stanley Baldwin and Chamberlain, and the backrooms of Parliament where an unusual coalition of MPs - including the indomitable Winston Churchill - were among the few to realise that the only real choice was between `war now or war later'. And as German troops enter the demilitarised Rhineland, march into Austria and threaten to invade Czechoslovakia, Bouverie takes us into the drawing rooms and dining clubs of fading imperial Britain, where Hitler enjoyed surprising support among the ruling class and even members of the Royal Family.0Drawing on deep archival research, this is an unforgettable portrait of the ministers, aristocrats and amateur diplomats who, through their actions and inaction, shaped their country's policy and determined the fate of Europe. 0Both sweeping and intimate, Appeasing Hitler is not only eye-opening history but a timeless lesson on the challenges of standing up to aggression and authoritarianism - and the calamity that results from failing to do so.

Contents:

Preface: 'Never again!'

Prologue: The storm breaks

The Hitler experiment

'I sing of arms and the man'

Tea with Hitler

The Abyssinian Imbroglio

Across the Rhine

The defence of the realm

Hitler's wonderland

Enter Chamberlain

Hunting for peace

'Bowlers are back!'

The rape of Austria

Last train from Berlin

Hons and rebels

A faraway country

The crisis breaks

To the brink

A piece of paper

Peace for our time

Chamberlain betrayed

Deterring the dictators

The last season

Final hours

Ghosts of appeasement

The fall of Chamberlain

Appeasement's last stand

Epilogue

Acknowledgements

Notes

Sources and bibliography

Picture credits

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781847924407

1847924409

OCLC:

1086332961

Publisher Number:

99980621362