Coffee with Hitler: The British Amateurs Who Tried to Civilise the Nazis

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All this naturally supports the view of unsatisfactory outcome of the Treaty of Versailles and the effect on German social and economic state that ultimately led to the rise of the Nazis and the creation of the Third Reich. Coffee with Hitler should make it impossible to continue to lampoon the Fellowship as an unsavoury gang. Coffee with Hitler tells the astounding true story of a handful of amateur British intelligence agents who wined, dined and befriended the leading National Socialists between the wars. For a moment, it genuinely seemed as if amicable relations would persist between the two countries, thanks in part to the work of the Fellowship.

The extraordinary story of three men, a Welsh historian and political secretary, a butterfly-collecting Old Etonian and a Great War fighter ace.When Hitler rose to power in the early 1930s, public reaction in Britain was not that of unalloyed horror. It is also not entirely clear what their own agenda really was - where they willing to give Germany a free hand in eastern Europe, where they anti-communists or did they want a milder form of Nazism with which they could along with. How wonderful, for instance, that when Sir Anthony Eden finally met Hitler (for one of the many coffees the book describes) his main observation concerned the quality of Hitler's tailoring. Spicer’s book is a resounding success, retelling the fascinating history of the Anglo-German Fellowship.

Entwined within story is of course, the known expeditions of the British Government and in particular Neville Chamberlain, so often portrayed as the naive fall guy. Daily Telegraph 'This engaging book offers a warning from history that remains terrifyingly relevant today. I understand I can change my preference through my account settings or unsubscribe directly from any marketing communications at any time.A truly illuminating, humane and sophisticated book – and, one hopes, the first of many by an exciting new talent on the historical scene. Tension builds as the three Germanophile's close friendships with the top echelons of the Nazi leadership get further and further strained as war approaches.

Drawing on newly discovered primary sources, Charles Spencer sheds light on the early career of Kim Philby, Winston Churchill’s approach to appeasement, the US entry into the war and the Rudolf Hess affair, in a groundbreaking reassessment of Britain's relationship with Nazi Germany. The similarities with Russia’s current ambitions to take back territory lost in the break up of the USSR and with Germany’s ambitions to do the same with territories lost in WW1 are stark and chilling.

As a lesson of history, this excellent book is a sober reminder to policymakers to look at the evidence in plain sight.

Charles Spicer has achieved something rare, a book that is entertaining and informative whilst also being an important piece of scholarship. Choice Magazine 'Spicer, who has given close, neutral and unerring scrutiny of the sources, proves to be a brisk, fair-minded and authoritative revisionist. This fascinating study challenges the too easy dichotomy between the villainous and duped appeasers and those with Churchillian foresight and insight.While many, even most, of the British members of the Anglo-German Fellowship were Germanophiles rather than Nazi sympathisers, there was a fine line between cultural appreciation of the country’s literature and art and the more ambiguous ideas expressed by such shadowy figures as the historian TP Conwell-Evans, a man jocularly described by Lloyd George as “my Nazi” and a leading member of the Fellowship. They consisted of “a leftwing, pacifist Welsh political secretary, a conservative, butterfly-collecting Old Etonian businessman and a pioneering Great War fighter ace”.