Download or read book Neville Chamberlain s Legacy written by Nicholas Milton and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2019-12-27 with total page 410 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A biography reassessing the man whose name became a synonym for appeasement: “An important read for anyone with an interest in the prelude to World War II.” —The NYMAS Review Neville Chamberlain has gone down in history as the architect of appeasement, the prime minister who by sacrificing Czechoslovakia at Munich in September 1938 put Britain on an inevitable path to war. In this radical new appraisal of one of the most vilified politicians of the twentieth century, historian Nicholas Milton claims that by placating Hitler, Chamberlain not only reflected public opinion but also embraced the zeitgeist of the time. Chamberlain also bought Britain vital time to rearm when Hitler’s military machine was at its zenith. It is with the hindsight of history that we understand Chamberlain’s failure to ultimately prevent a war from happening. Yet by placing him within the context of his time, this fascinating new history provides a unique perspective into the lives and mindset of the people of Britain during the lead up to the Second World War. Never before have Chamberlain’s letters been accessed to tell the story of his life and work. They shed new light on his complex character and enable us to consider Chamberlain the man, not just the statesman. His role as a pioneer of conservation is revealed, alongside his work in improving midwifery and championing the introduction of widows’ pensions. Neville Chamberlain’s Legacy is a reminder that there is often more to political figures than many a quick judgment allows.
Download or read book More Than Munich written by Andrew Reekes and published by . This book was released on with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Neville Chamberlain written by Walter Reid and published by Birlinn Ltd. This book was released on 2021-09-02 with total page 441 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Neville Chamberlain is remembered today as Hitler's credulous dupe, the man who proclaimed in September 1938 that the Munich agreement guaranteed 'peace in our time'. This is a magisterial reappraisal of Chamberlain and his legacy. It reveals the nuances of a complex and sensitive man who was a true radical and a man of passion, especially in all that concerned the welfare of his fellow citizens. As Minister of Health, Chancellor and Prime Minister, he presided over a fundamental modernisation of Britain, shuttingthe door on the Victorian age, ending free trade, improving living conditions and abolishing the Poor Law and the workhouse. Munich was much more than the traditional narrative suggests. Scarred by the death of his cousin in the First World War, Chamberlain was determined to ensure that a new generation was spared the tragic waste that had consumed their elders. Even so, he prepared for war while he worked for peace. The aircraft that won the Battle of Britain were built on his watch. He didn't win the Second World War, but it was he who ensured it wasn't lost in 1940.
Download or read book 1938 written by Giles MacDonogh and published by ReadHowYouWant.com. This book was released on 2011-05 with total page 574 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this masterful narrative, acclaimed historian Giles MacDonogh chronicles Adolf Hitler's consolidation of power over the course of one year. Until 1938, Hitler could be dismissed as a ruthless but efficient dictator, a problem to Germany alone; after 1938 he was clearly a threat to the entire world.
Download or read book Appeasement written by Tim Bouverie and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 530 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A new history of the British appeasement of the Third Reich on the eve of World War II"--
Download or read book The Chamberlain Legacy written by Charles Nettlefold and published by Andrews UK Limited. This book was released on 2017-07-06 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Chamberlains were the most powerful political dynasty in England between 1876 and 1940 when one or, more usually, two members of the family sat in the Commons, holding between them nearly all the great Offices of State. In recent times, they have sunk into relative obscurity but recent political developments have made their lives seem particularly relevant. Theresa May's listing of Joe Chamberlain in her apostolic succession of great conservatives has brought him back to the forefront of political debate; whilst Brexit has made his policy of Tariff Reform relevant once again to British economic policy. The concerns over President Putin's foreign policy, coupled with the weak state of Britain's defence forces, have mirrored the conditions that led to the humiliation of Neville Chamberlain, whilst the UK’s current political turmoil reflects those of the 1920s, which led to Austen Chamberlain being mocked as a perpetual loser. In this book, the author has sought to re-examine the reputations of these three men by concentrating as much on their personal lives and the motives that drove them as on the mighty political events that dominated their times. His conclusions may surprise the reader and may help those who are trying to forge policies to deal with the current political and economic environments.
Download or read book Britain at Bay written by Alan Allport and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2021-10-26 with total page 641 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From statesmen and military commanders to ordinary Britons, a bold, sweeping history of Britain's entrance into World War II—and its efforts to survive it—illuminating the ways in which the war permanently transformed a nation and its people “Might be the single best examination of British politics, society and strategy in these four years that has ever been written.” —The Wall Street Journal Here is the many-faceted, world-historically significant story of Britain at war. In looking closely at the military and political dimensions of the conflict’s first crucial years, Alan Allport tackles pressing questions such as whether the war could have been avoided, how it could have been lost, how well the British lived up to their own values, and ultimately, what difference the war made to the fate of the nation. In answering these questions, he reexamines our assumptions and paints a vivid portrait of the ways in which the Second World War transformed British culture and society. This bracing account draws on a lively cast of characters—from the political and military leaders who made the decisions, to the ordinary citizens who lived through them—in a comprehensible and compelling single history of forty-six million people. A sweeping and groundbreaking epic, Britain at Bay gives us a fresh look at the opening years of the war, and illuminates the integral moments that, for better or for worse, made Britain what it is today.
Download or read book Appeasing Hitler written by Tim Bouverie and published by Arrow. This book was released on 2020-03-19 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Sunday Times Bestseller 'Astonishing' ANTONY BEEVOR 'One of the most promising young historians to enter our field for years' MAX HASTINGS 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'. Less than a year later, Germany invaded Poland and the Second World War began. This is a vital new history of the disastrous years of indecision, failed diplomacy and parliamentary infighting that enabled Nazi domination of Europe. Drawing on previously unseen sources, it sweeps from the advent of Hitler in 1933 to the beaches of Dunkirk, and presents an unforgettable portrait of the ministers, aristocrats and amateur diplomats whose actions and inaction had devastating consequences. 'Brilliant and sparkling . . . Reads like a thriller. I couldn't put it down' Peter Frankopan 'Vivid, detailed and utterly fascinating . . . This is political drama at its most compelling' James Holland 'Bouverie skilfully traces each shameful step to war . . . in moving and dramatic detail' Sunday Telegraph
Download or read book How Churchill Waged War written by Allen Packwood and published by Grub Street Publishers. This book was released on 2018-10-30 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An analytical investigation into Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s decision-making process during every stage of World War II. When Winston Churchill accepted the position of Prime Minister in May 1940, he insisted in also becoming Minister of Defence. This, though, meant that he alone would be responsible for the success or failure of Britain’s war effort. It also meant that he would be faced with many monumental challenges and utterly crucial decisions upon which the fate of Britain and the free world rested. With the limited resources available to the UK, Churchill had to pinpoint where his country’s priorities lay. He had to respond to the collapse of France, decide if Britain should adopt a defensive or offensive strategy, choose if Egypt and the war in North Africa should take precedence over Singapore and the UK’s empire in the East, determine how much support to give the Soviet Union, and how much power to give the United States in controlling the direction of the war. In this insightful investigation into Churchill’s conduct during the Second World War, Allen Packwood, BA, MPhil (Cantab), FRHistS, the Director of the Churchill Archives Centre, enables the reader to share the agonies and uncertainties faced by Churchill at each crucial stage of the war. How Churchill responded to each challenge is analyzed in great detail and the conclusions Packwood draws are as uncompromising as those made by Britain’s wartime leader as he negotiated his country through its darkest days.
Download or read book Winston s War written by Michael Dobbs and published by Sourcebooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2009-03-01 with total page 590 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Michael Dobbs, author of the book that inspired the smash hit Netflix series House of Cards, comes Winston's War, a thrilling novel about the dawn of WWII and Winston Churchill's rise to power. At the beginning of WWII, Neville Chamberlain believes he has bought "peace for our time" from Adolph Hitler, who has just seized Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The English are alarmed by the huge German army, while the soldiers that would defend London don't even have steel helmets. For many, compromise and appeasement seem to be England's best defense. But there are a few leaders who don't agree. Among them is Winston Churchill, who understands that the relentless march of fascism will be democracy's death knell. In October 1938, Churchill pleads his case in the press to the BBC's Guy Burgess. One of these two will become the most revered man of his time, and the other will be known as the greatest of traitors. This stunning novel brings to life the surprising political intrigues that set the stage for World War II, and brings alive the passionate, grumpy, whiskey-drinking Winston Churchill, as he inspires his fellow countrymen to take on the world's mightiest army. Includes bonus reading group guide Praise for Michael Dobbs, bestselling author of House of Cards, the book that inspired the Netflix series: "An intriguing tale of espionage and treason... this is a work to enthrall."—Daily Mail "An author who can bring historical happenings so vitally back to life and made all the more impressive by being historically accurate in every respect."—Times of London "A fascinating tale of conspiracy, blackmail, and treachery."—Irish Independent "Dobbs takes us so far inside the mind of Winston Churchill that we feel as though we actually are him."—Booklist "Dobbs infuses dramatic tension, inventive plots, and heady pacing in the narration of a British icon's noblest hours."—Publishers Weekly "Dobbs has done a brilliant job in evoking the drama and despair of Britain hovering on the edge of the abyss."—Sunday Express
Download or read book Getting Right with Reagan written by Marcus M. Witcher and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2019-11-29 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Republicans today often ask, “What would Reagan do?” The short answer: probably not what they think. Hero of modern-day conservatives, Ronald Reagan was not even conservative enough for some of his most ardent supporters in his own time—and today his practical, often bipartisan approach to politics and policy would likely be deemed apostasy. To try to get a clearer picture of what the real Reagan legacy is, in this book Marcus M. Witcher details conservatives’ frequently tense relationship with Ronald Reagan in the 1980s and explores how they created the latter-day Reagan myth. Witcher reminds us that during Reagan’s time in office, conservative critics complained that he had failed to bring about the promised Reagan Revolution—and in 1988 many Republican hopefuls ran well to the right of his policies. Notable among the dissonant acts of his administration: Reagan raised taxes when necessary, passed comprehensive immigration reform, signed a bill that saved Social Security, and worked with adversaries at home and abroad to govern effectively. Even his signature accomplishment—invoked by “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”—was highly unpopular with the Conservative Caucus, as evidenced in their newspaper ads comparing the president to Neville Chamberlain: “Appeasement is as Unwise in 1988 as in 1938.” Reagan’s presidential library and museum positioned him above partisan politics, emphasizing his administration’s role in bringing about economic recovery and negotiating an end to the Cold War. How this legacy, as Reagan himself envisioned it, became the more grandiose version fashioned by Republicans after the 1980s tells us much about the late twentieth-century transformation of the GOP—and, as Witcher’s work so deftly shows, the conservative movement as we know it now.
Download or read book Guilty Men written by Cato and published by Penguin Uk. This book was released on 1998 with total page 123 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A polemic against Chamberlain, MacDonald, and Baldwin whom the author Cato, a pseudonym for Michael Foot, Frank Owen, and Peter Howard, regarded as having brought the country to the brink of disaster through their policy of appeasement. First published in 1940
Download or read book Fighting Churchill Appeasing Hitler written by Adrian Phillips and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Fighting Churchill, Appeasing Hitler Adrian Phillips presents a radical new view of the British policy of appeasement in the late 1930s. No one doubts that appeasement failed, but Phillips shows that it caused active harm - even sabotaging Britain's preparations for war. He goes far further than previous historians in identifying the individuals responsible for a catalogue of miscalculations, deviousness and moral surrender that made the Second World War inevitable, and highlights the alternative policies that might have prevented it. Phillips outlines how Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and his chief advisor, Sir Horace Wilson, formed a fatally inept two-man foreign-policy machine that was immune to any objective examination, criticism or assessment - ruthlessly manipulating the media to support appeasement while batting aside policies advocated by Winston Churchill, the most vocal opponent of appeasement. Churchill understood that Hitler was the implacable enemy of peace - and Britain - but Chamberlain and Wilson were terrified that any display of firmness would provoke him. For the first time, Phillips brings to light how Wilson and Churchill had been enemies since an incident early in their careers, and how, eventually, opposing Churchill became an end in itself. Featuring new revelations about the personalities involved and the shameful manipulations and betrayals that went into appeasement, including an attempt to buy Hitler off with a ruthless colonialist deal in Africa, Fighting Churchill, Appeasing Hitler shines a compelling and original light on one of the darkest hours in British diplomatic history. --
Download or read book Battle for the Castle written by Andrea Orzoff and published by OUP USA. This book was released on 2009-07-21 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Battle for Castle examines the conscious creation and dissemination of Czechoslovakia's reputation as Eastern Europe's "native democracy" by its country's leaders.
Download or read book Citizens of London written by Lynne Olson and published by Random House. This book was released on 2010-02-02 with total page 688 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Engaging and original, rich in anecdote and analysis, this is a terrific work of history.”—Jon Meacham, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Lion The acclaimed author of Troublesome Young Men reveals the behind-the-scenes story of how the United States forged its wartime alliance with Britain, told from the perspective of three key American players in London: Edward R. Murrow, the handsome, chain-smoking head of CBS News in Europe; Averell Harriman, the hard-driving millionaire who ran FDR’s Lend-Lease program in London; and John Gilbert Winant, the shy, idealistic U.S. ambassador to Britain. Each man formed close ties with Winston Churchill—so much so that all became romantically involved with members of the prime minister’s family. Drawing from a variety of primary sources, Lynne Olson skillfully depicts the dramatic personal journeys of these men who, determined to save Britain from Hitler, helped convince a cautious Franklin Roosevelt and reluctant American public to back the British at a critical time. Deeply human, brilliantly researched, and beautifully written, Citizens of London is a new triumph from an author swiftly becoming one of the finest in her field. Praise for Citizens of London “Brilliantly bursting with beautiful prose, Olson flutters our hearts by capturing the essence of the public and private lives of those who faced death, touched the precipice, hung on by their eyelids, and saved the free world from destruction by the forces of evil.”—Bill Gardner, New Hampshire Secretary of State “If you don't think there's any more to learn about the power struggles, rivalries and dramas—both personal and political—about the US-British aliance in the World War II years, this book will change your mind—and keep you turning the pages as well.”—Jeff Greenfield, Senior Political Correspondent, CBS News “Three fascinating Americans living in London helped cement the World War II alliance between Roosevelt and Churchill. Lynne Olson brings us the wonderful saga of Harriman, Murrow, and Winant. A triumph of research and storytelling, Citizens of London is history on an intimate level.”—Walter Isaacson, author of Einstein
Download or read book Return of a King written by William Dalrymple and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2013-04-16 with total page 494 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From William Dalrymple—award-winning historian, journalist and travel writer—a masterly retelling of what was perhaps the West’s greatest imperial disaster in the East, and an important parable of neocolonial ambition, folly and hubris that has striking relevance to our own time. With access to newly discovered primary sources from archives in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia and India—including a series of previously untranslated Afghan epic poems and biographies—the author gives us the most immediate and comprehensive account yet of the spectacular first battle for Afghanistan: the British invasion of the remote kingdom in 1839. Led by lancers in scarlet cloaks and plumed helmets, and facing little resistance, nearly 20,000 British and East India Company troops poured through the mountain passes from India into Afghanistan in order to reestablish Shah Shuja ul-Mulk on the throne, and as their puppet. But after little more than two years, the Afghans rose in answer to the call for jihad and the country exploded into rebellion. This First Anglo-Afghan War ended with an entire army of what was then the most powerful military nation in the world ambushed and destroyed in snowbound mountain passes by simply equipped Afghan tribesmen. Only one British man made it through. But Dalrymple takes us beyond the bare outline of this infamous battle, and with penetrating, balanced insight illuminates the uncanny similarities between the West’s first disastrous entanglement with Afghanistan and the situation today. He delineates the straightforward facts: Shah Shuja and President Hamid Karzai share the same tribal heritage; the Shah’s principal opponents were the Ghilzai tribe, who today make up the bulk of the Taliban’s foot soldiers; the same cities garrisoned by the British are today garrisoned by foreign troops, attacked from the same rings of hills and high passes from which the British faced attack. Dalryrmple also makes clear the byzantine complexity of Afghanistan’s age-old tribal rivalries, the stranglehold they have on the politics of the nation and the ways in which they ensnared both the British in the nineteenth century and NATO forces in the twenty-first. Informed by the author’s decades-long firsthand knowledge of Afghanistan, and superbly shaped by his hallmark gifts as a narrative historian and his singular eye for the evocation of place and culture, The Return of a King is both the definitive analysis of the First Anglo-Afghan War and a work of stunning topicality.
Download or read book Churchill The End of Glory written by John Charmley and published by Faber & Faber. This book was released on 2014-06-05 with total page 727 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Of the three revisionist works John Charmley has written about British foreign policy in the mid-twentieth century this is the centrepiece. The author argues that Churchill deserves more credit for 'their finest hour' than has been granted, but just as his virtues were built on the heroic scale, so too were his faults and failures. The statesman who had struggled to destroy Nazism and restore Europe's balance of power ended by allowing Stalin to dominate central and eastern Europe. This is no mere exercise in debunking, in many ways the complex man presented in these pages is more interesting than the more hagiographical portraits. 'This is not instant history run up to cause a sensation, but a meticulously documented reappraisal of Churchill's war leadership and of the career that led up to it. Nor is its tone contemptuous or vindictive. The author accepts that Churchill was a great man. His starting point is that even great men make mistakes.' John Keegan, Daily Telegraph 'Probably the most important revisionist text to be published since the war.' Alan Clark, The Times
