The Chamberlain-Hitler Collusion
by Alvin Finkel and Clement Leibovitz
introduction by Christopher Hitchens
This book shows that Chamberlain and other British leaders welcomed Nazism as an alternative to Communism.
Was Neville Chamberlain merely naïve, a man of peace who was blind to Hitler's warlike intentions in the late 1930s? Or did he, with the backing of much of Britain's ruling elite, positively prefer Nazism to the threat of Communism in a politically charged era?
Alvin Finkel and Clement Leibovitz forcefully maintain the latter view. They present irrefutable evidence that in 1938 Chamberlain's government, supported by powerful business interests and an influential segment of the press, sought an agreement with the Nazis that would protect the west against attack while positively encouraging German expansion in central and eastern Europe. Attempts to conclude a pact among Britain, France, Germany and Italy were not, in fact, abandoned until Churchill's ascension to power in May of 1940.
The Chamberlain-Hitler Collusion is a bold and scrupulously documented reexamination of a vital period in European history, one that definitively overturns much received wisdom.
Alvin Finkel and Clement Leibovitz forcefully maintain the latter view. They present irrefutable evidence that in 1938 Chamberlain's government, supported by powerful business interests and an influential segment of the press, sought an agreement with the Nazis that would protect the west against attack while positively encouraging German expansion in central and eastern Europe. Attempts to conclude a pact among Britain, France, Germany and Italy were not, in fact, abandoned until Churchill's ascension to power in May of 1940.
The Chamberlain-Hitler Collusion is a bold and scrupulously documented reexamination of a vital period in European history, one that definitively overturns much received wisdom.
About the Authors
Alvin Finkel
ALVIN FINKEL is a founding member of the Alberta Labour History Institute, an emeritus professor of History at Athabasca University where he taught for 36 years and the past president of the Canadian Committee on Labour History. He was the book review editor for the journal Labour/Le Travail for 11 years and is still a member of that journal’s editorial board. A prolific author, Alvin’s 13 books have sold over 150,000 copies. They include textbooks on Canadian history and the history of social policy as well as labour history and the history of the events leading to World War II. On the latter topic, he co-wrote The Chamberlain-Hitler Collusion with Clement Leibovitz (Lorimer 2011). He lives in Edmonton Alberta.(more)
Reviews
"Finkel and Leibovitz have come up with a new and more satisfactory explanation of why the Second World War broke out when it did."
Telegraph Journal
"Anyone who likes to read about the Second World War -- and anyone who remembers its beginnings -- will learn much from this book.... The story [The Chamberlain-Hitler Collusion tells should be better known."
Elisabeth Cran, Charlottetown Guardian
Subjects (BISAC)
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