British politics on the eve of the Second World War remains a subject of enduring fascination. Recent years have witnessed the publication of a plethora of new books on the subject, from Daniel Todman's Britain's War to Nicholas Shakespeare's Six Minutes in May as well as this reviewer's own The End is Nigh. The subject is ripe for argument, as the quantities of literature produced about it show.
The latest addition to the field is Tim Bouverie's first book. A former journalist for Channel 4 News, Bouverie is particularly good at capturing the essence of politicians' personalities. The book offers a self-consciously narrative history, in which analysis is deliberately restrained and the telling of an evocative story is prioritised instead. Bouverie's prose is fluent and assured throughout. Those in search of an entertaining read will find one.
Appeasing Hitler spans the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany in January 1933 to the emergence of Winston Churchill as British Prime Minister in May 1940. These seven years saw the funeral pyre of Europe's global dominance stacked ever higher and then, finally, set ablaze. Bouverie's book is an engaging guide to that process from a British perspective. Neville Chamberlain is at the fore, but Bouverie draws upon a large cast of characters to weave his narrative together. They include influential civil servants and diplomatic emissaries.
For those who are unfamiliar with the events and personalities in question, Appeasing Hitler is an ideal introduction. For readers who already know the broad outlines, however, there is perhaps little to discover. Bouverie is frank from the outset that his goal is to offer relatively limited analysis, but while this serves to keep the story barrelling along, it also hinders the development of a distinctive argument that might help the book to stand out in a crowded field.
Read Full Article »