''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 the Honourable Peter John Pleydell-Bouverie and the Honourable Jane Victoria Gi ...

about the British policy of

appeasement Appeasement in an international context is a diplomatic policy of making political, material, or territorial concessions to an aggressive power in order to avoid conflict. The term is most often applied to the foreign policy of the UK governm ...

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...

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

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. 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 or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

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 (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

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) views held by professional scholars about a historical event or times ...

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 (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

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