Appeasing Hitler: The Diplomacy of Sir Nevile Henderson, 1937-39 (Studies in Diplomacy) by Peter Neville - 9780312228507 - Compare Discount Book Prices & Save up to 90%

This study of Sir Nevile Henderson is the first in the English language, and challenges the idea that Henderson was hopelessly pro-Nazi and failed to pass on British warnings to the Hitler government about its behavior. Henderson was sent to Berlin in 1937 to try to build bridges to the Nazi regime, and tried hard to do this. But he ultimately recognized that the Nazi government was "a gangster regime," while fighting to the last to preserve peace.

		Appeasing Hitler: The Diplomacy of Sir Nevile Henderson, 1937-39 (Studies in Diplomacy) by Peter Neville ISBN-10: 9780312228507 ISBN-10: 0-312-22850-3 ISBN-13: 9780312228507 ISBN-13: 978-0-312-22850-7 Hardcover 1999-11-20 Palgrave Macmillan Find Lowest Price
Editorials

Product Description This study of Sir Nevile Henderson is the first in the English language, and challenges the idea that Henderson was hopelessly pro-Nazi and failed to pass on British warnings to the Hitler government about its behavior. Henderson was sent to Berlin in 1937 to try to build bridges to the Nazi regime, and tried hard to do this. But he ultimately recognized that the Nazi government was "a gangster regime," while fighting to the last to preserve peace.
Book Description This study of Sir Nevile Henderson is the first in the English language, and challenges the idea that Henderson was hopelessly pro-Nazi and failed to pass on British warnings to the Hitler government about its behavior. Henderson was sent to Berlin in 1937 to try to build bridges to the Nazi regime, and tried hard to do this. But he ultimately recognized that the Nazi government was "a gangster regime," while fighting to the last to preserve peace.
Reviews

A second look at Sir Nevile Henderson Largely because he died early in the Second World War, Sir Nevile Henderson, British ambassador to Germany during 1937-39, has been routinely maligned by his adversaries in the Foreign Office, and historians and journalists with axes to grind -- or misjudgments to conceal. The notion that Henderson was "our Nazi ambassador in Berlin" took root among British revisionists at the time, and has since become the conventional wisdom. In truth, of course, Henderson was no Nazi, nor even sympathetic toward the Hitler regime, which he abhorred. He was, however, a skilled diplomat and, charged with explaining British policy to the Germans, and vice versa, discharged his duties with the skill, discretion, clarity and competence of his kind. The reader of this biography would profit from acquaintance with Henderson's own apologia, "Failure of a Mission" (1940), but it is sufficient to say that Professor Neville has written an elegant, informative, incisive study which does much to dispel the customary abuse and prejudice directed at Sir Nevile Henderson. This is not just a useful corrective to bias, but a splendid introduction to a complex, subtle and tragic story.
An Attempted Revisionist Review of Henderson Professor Peter Nevile attempts to rehabilitate the reputation of Sir Nevile Henderson, the British Ambassador in Germany from 1937-1939. The basic spin on Henderson has been that he failed in two areas: 1] He failed to see the Nazis for what they really were and did not give an accurate assessment of the Nazi government to the British Foreign Office and 2] That he failed to give certain messages that England wished him to convey to the Nazis, namely against the Anschluss, the invasion of Chekoslavakia, and Poland. Professor Nevile has done meticulous research into his subject, but he only succeeds in disproving some of the second contention. He bravely attempts to dispel the first complaint, but ultimately fails in doing so as he must and does admit in his conclusions. One may take issues with some judgement calls that Professor Nevile has made. He does not take into account the views of other ambassador colleagues of Henderson, nor does he discuss Henderson's nervous breakdown while posted in Egypt. He doesn't discuss the dim views of Henderson from the published memoirs on the Nazi side either. These three items are necessary in order to get a complete picture of Henderson. (As an aside, Professor Nevile's long footnote on how he discovered Henderson's long lost published book on his dog Happy hopefully is not typical of his research - as a casual internet search will reveal three available copies) All in all, Professor Nevile does manage to prove that Henderson did effectively convey to the Nazis that Britian was dead serious about protecting Poland, and he does unearth much information that was previously unavailable. It is also an enjoyable read.