Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War

A supremely good work of history. The appeasing personality is laid bare. Such history is of enormous relevance to the present day. We had the talentless Chamberlain and Nazi Germany, and now we have Theresa May, the epitome of ambition without talent, narcissism sheltering under the cover of virtue and duty, and the anti-democratic EU. In both cases we have the Conservative Party choosing gutless nonentities as leaders, leading to near disaster. Chamberlain would have happily have made Britain a vassal state of Germany in exchange for peace with dishonour. May sought to sell her sordid deal to make the UK a vassal state of the EU as an escape from the dictates of the EU. Chamberlain was humiliated, along with the country, by Hitler. May was humiliated, along with the country, by the smug pompous and corrupt EU leaders. Chamberlain's gutlessness was supported, for a time, by a majority of the population of Britain. Today we have almost half the country actively wishing to become slaves to a European dictatorship, that openly wishes to destroy nation states. Thank God Chamberlain went and Churchill took on the task. Chamberlain's legacy, had he remained, would have been the destruction of Britain. May's legacy may still well be the destruction the Britain, by Marxism. If Corbyn and his totalitarian and racist henchmen are elected in due course, May will be to blame. She put ego and vanity before country. We have history rhyming here. Let us hope that we escape again, by the skin of our teeth, as we did in 1939 to 1945. Buy this wonderful book.

I've read extensively about this historic period of history, yet learned so much from reading Tim Bouverie's gripping narrative that concentrates on Britain's role in the run-up to the Second World War. Bouverie's analysis is faultless, his presentation of the facts insightful, his characterisation of the leading players vivid. It's hard to dispute his conclusions. I'm particular, the falsehood of the argument that Munich gave Britain an extra year to prepare for war, which was so vital to our survival. Britain's defences should have been addressed many years ago as it was obvious the Nazi war machine was getting mightier from the moment Hitler gained power; Chamberlain's policy up to the outbreak of war was peace, not to prepare Britain for war; and, fatally, Chamberlain had no Plan B, staking all on appeasement. Well worth reading even if you're not an expert on the period; the book explains the events, characters involved, and Britain's policy extremely well. A triumph.

I greatly enjoyed this book. It is well worth reading, well-written and kept my attention throughout. The main narrative is well-known but the author manages to bering new insights through well-chosen stories and quotations. Perhaps too many examples in places where he is simply repeating one additional idiocy after another. But overall, the book is thoughtful, engaging and fascinating. My one gripe is the title. This book is all about Chamberlain and the policy of appeasement. It is not about Churchill who appears relatively little. This doesn't detract from the book itself, but the title is misleading and perhaps a tad opportunistic. In addition, there could be more about the attitudes of other actors: the Labour and Liberal parties, the defence forces and the Church, for example.

Reads like a thriller, very well written and researched. Perhaps more for aficionados of 20th century history (like me) but I still learned much that I hadn’t known. For example, the amateurish attempts at diplomacy by various (misguided) members of the aristocracy and others. At times I despaired of Chamberlain’s obstinacy as well as his ridiculous naivety where Hitler and Mussolini where concerned. At others, I felt strangely sorry for him - he was after all, horrified of a repeat of the Great War deaths and casualties. A highly recommended book.

As we now know appeasement only makes the aggressor more aggressive. The blindness of key politicians during the appeasement crisis is staggering but what is more astonishing is that when something you behold is so apparently evil, why did they not see it? After reading this fine book I’ve come to the conclusion that perhaps they just didn’t want to see it. The bigger the lie, the more people will believe it. War was inevitable with the mindset of the time but with 20x20 hindsight it was definitely preventable. A tragedy in the retelling. Read this book you’ll not be disappointed hence, 5 stars.

... shows Chamberlain for what he was an appeaser whose lack of Critical Thinking contributed to the deaths of tens of millions of Europeans because he ignored the warning signs.

I found it a fascinating & challenging read. It is a very complex subject & definitely prior knowledge of at least some of the leading characters & an outline knowledge of the history of period was helpful. Sadly we humans still haven’t learnt our lesson. We are still being captivated (& potentially led to destruction) by some petty dictator who is seeking to gain World domination. 75 years on this week, we commemorated D-Day & the Allied troops courage. But we should remember that next time the 4 horsemen might not save us.

Gripping as a novel even though the outcome is known. The individual characters are brought to life and speak through their own words thanks to the research of wide ranging sources. The ebb and flow and detail was unknown to me previously and was really fascinating. The information failures , amateurish diplomacy and the impact of the personal on the public role really help illuminate why appeasement was a majority view for so long. Some interesting food for thought given the current invasion of Ukraine by Putin and the RussianFederation

La voglia di pace dei vecchi imperi colonialisti europei, ha dato la forza politica ma soprattutto economica e tecnologica a un pazzo di sperare di conquistare l'Europa pezzo dopo pezzo senza aver paura delle reazioni della grandi potenze. Le stesse, democrazie spinte a politiche pacifiste dalle popolazioni ferite dalla prima guerra mondiale si sono fatte trovare nel '39 con gli arsenali semi vuoti e senza munizioni per poter effettivamente difendere la Polonia!!

An eye opener of abook about what appeasement of a powerful political leader can lead to. A brilliant piece of history.

Excellent beginning of the book. Looking forward to the continuation.

This is an excellent and very readable account of the Conservative government of Neville Chamberlain who while wanting to avoid the appalling losses of WW1 was blind to the facts that Hitler was bound and determined for war and revenge. Why Chamberlain made three plane trips to Germany to engage with an Austrian dictator can only be put down to his vanity and lack of judgement for which millions paid the price.

This was a very enjoyable book about the political missteps in the leadup to WW2. The book moved along at a brisk pace, and I never found myself skimming over pages. I highly recommend this book.