''Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War'', is a 2019 book by

Tim Bouverie Timothy Pleydell-Bouverie (born June 1987) is a British historian and former political journalist at Channel 4 News. Early life and education Bouverie is the son of Peter John Pleydell-Bouverie and Jane Victoria Gilmour. His paternal grandfath ...

about the British policy of

appeasement Appeasement, in an International relations, international context, is a diplomacy, diplomatic negotiation policy of making political, material, or territorial concessions to an aggressive power (international relations), power with intention t ...

Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

in the 1930s. Bouverie explains the policy as a product of the British response to the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Given that an enormous percentage of Britain's fighting-age men had died in a war the purpose of which no one could perceive, Bouverie describes British

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ...

as the explanation of Chamberlain's appeasement policy, since "The desire to avoid a Second World War was perhaps the most understandable and universal wish in history." Bouverie describes the

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

of the British ruling class as the secondary cause of Britain's reluctance to stand up to Hitler. The book is a strong response to a number of recent works of

historical revisionism In historiography, historical revisionism is the reinterpretation of a historical account. It usually involves challenging the orthodox (established, accepted or traditional) scholarly views or narratives regarding a historical event, timespa ...

that have painted Chamberlain as a "super-pragmatist", much maligned since his options were limited by widespread popular

and also painting him as a man who cleverly used appeasement to gain time that would enable Britain to rearm.

References

{{Authority control 2019 non-fiction books

History books History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Debut books British non-fiction books The Bodley Head books Books about Adolf Hitler