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Coffee With Hitler: The Untold Story of the Amateur Spies Who Tried to Civilize the Nazis
*A Telegraph and Spectator Best Book of the Year*
The fascinating story of how an eccentric group of intelligence agents used amateur diplomacy to penetrate the Nazi high command in an effort to prevent the start of World War II.
"How might the British have handled Hitler differently?” remains one of history’s greatest "what ifs."
Coffee with Hitler tells the astounding story of how a handful of amateur British intelligence agents wined, dined, and befriended the leading National Socialists between the wars. With support from royalty, aristocracy, politicians, and businessmen, they hoped to use the recently founded Anglo-German Fellowship as a vehicle to civilize and enlighten the Nazis.
At the heart of the story are a pacifist Welsh historian, a World War I flying ace, and a butterfly-collecting businessman, who together offered the British government better intelligence on the horrifying rise of the Nazis than any other agents. Though they were only minor players in the terrible drama of Europe’s descent into its second twentieth-century war, these three protagonists operated within the British Establishment. They infiltrated the Nazi high command deeper than any other spies, relaying accurate intelligence to both their government and to its anti-appeasing critics. Straddling the porous border between hard and soft diplomacy, their activities fuelled tensions between the amateur and the professional diplomats in both London and Berlin. Having established a personal rapport with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, they delivered intelligence to him directly, too, paving the way for American military support for Great Britain against the Nazi threat.
The settings for their public efforts ranged from tea parties in Downing Street, banquets at London’s best hotels, and the Coronation of George VI to coffee and cake at Hitler’s Bavarian mountain home, champagne galas at the Berlin Olympics, and afternoon receptions at the Nuremberg Rallies. More private encounters between the elites of both powers were nurtured by shooting weekends at English country homes, whisky drinking sessions at German estates, discreet meetings in London apartments, and whispered exchanges in the corridors of embassies and foreign ministries.
The fascinating story of how an eccentric group of intelligence agents used amateur diplomacy to penetrate the Nazi high command in an effort to prevent the start of World War II.
"How might the British have handled Hitler differently?” remains one of history’s greatest "what ifs."
Coffee with Hitler tells the astounding story of how a handful of amateur British intelligence agents wined, dined, and befriended the leading National Socialists between the wars. With support from royalty, aristocracy, politicians, and businessmen, they hoped to use the recently founded Anglo-German Fellowship as a vehicle to civilize and enlighten the Nazis.
At the heart of the story are a pacifist Welsh historian, a World War I flying ace, and a butterfly-collecting businessman, who together offered the British government better intelligence on the horrifying rise of the Nazis than any other agents. Though they were only minor players in the terrible drama of Europe’s descent into its second twentieth-century war, these three protagonists operated within the British Establishment. They infiltrated the Nazi high command deeper than any other spies, relaying accurate intelligence to both their government and to its anti-appeasing critics. Straddling the porous border between hard and soft diplomacy, their activities fuelled tensions between the amateur and the professional diplomats in both London and Berlin. Having established a personal rapport with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, they delivered intelligence to him directly, too, paving the way for American military support for Great Britain against the Nazi threat.
The settings for their public efforts ranged from tea parties in Downing Street, banquets at London’s best hotels, and the Coronation of George VI to coffee and cake at Hitler’s Bavarian mountain home, champagne galas at the Berlin Olympics, and afternoon receptions at the Nuremberg Rallies. More private encounters between the elites of both powers were nurtured by shooting weekends at English country homes, whisky drinking sessions at German estates, discreet meetings in London apartments, and whispered exchanges in the corridors of embassies and foreign ministries.
520 pages, Hardcover
Published September 6, 2022
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August 13, 2024
A book that looks at a little known aspect of the run-up to WW2, about the activities of the Anglo-German Fellowship, an organisation that sought to promote good relations between Nazi Germany and the UK. It’s a pretty interesting account. I listened to the audiobook version narrated by Simon Vance.
The AGF has tended to get a bad rap from historians. Its members have usually been portrayed as Nazi sympathizers or even as outright traitors. The author concedes that a minority of AGF members did fit that profile, but he concentrates on the activities of three of the most prominent Fellowship members, whom he portrays sympathetically. TP (Philip) Conwell-Evans was a pacifist and WW1 conscientious objector who later worked as an advisor to David Lloyd-George. Ernest Tennant came from a prominent British business family. He lost a brother and many close friends during WW1. Grahame Christie had been a WW1 fighter pilot and all-round adventurer. All three spoke fluent German, were admirers of the culture that had produced Goethe and Beethoven, and felt passionately that everything possible must be done to avoid another war between Britain and Germany. They thought that by showing goodwill towards Germany, they and other AGF members could steer the Nazis away from another war.
Up to 1937 this didn’t seem altogether unreasonable. Many of the German aristocracy greatly admired their British counterparts and sought social acceptance amongst them. The most prominent example was von Ribbentrop, whom Hitler appointed as ambassador to London. However, Ribbentrop’s time in London was so gaffe-prone that the British press nicknamed him “Brickendrop”. By the time he returned to Germany he had become convinced that Great Britain was Germany’s todfeind – deadly enemy - and he sought to convince Hitler of this.
Christie became good friends with Hermann Göring, partly of course through their shared background as fighter pilots. He gained remarkable access to high-level intelligence from the Nazi leaders, which he passed on to the British Foreign Office. He provided accurate advance intelligence of all the main aggressive moves made by the Nazis during the 1930s – the Rhineland, the Anschluss, the Sudetenland, and the occupation of Bohemia and Moravia. All of his information proved to be correct and his predictions on timing were accurate to within a few days. It’s frustrating to read about the lack of action taken in response. The author argues there were two clear chances to stop Hitler. One was at the remilitarisation of the Rhineland, the other during the Sudeten crisis. The detailed arguments are in the book.
Conwell-Evans and Tennant also largely lost faith in the peace process after Munich and after the Kristallnacht, coming to realise that the Nazis could not be reformed. They continued to make what efforts they could to avoid war though, primarily through contacts with Göring, whom they regarded as the most level-headed of the Nazi leaders (it’s all relative).
Of course, after the war broke out, any past association with the Nazi leaders was viewed with great suspicion, and after the war the former members of the AGF tended to keep very quiet about their pre-war activities. The author argues though, that the trio he features were guilty of nothing more than well-intentioned naivety, and that Germanophilia and a desire for Anglo-German amity should not be conflated with being pro-Nazi.
I could talk a lot more about these issues, but my review is long enough. A well-researched and well-written book.
The AGF has tended to get a bad rap from historians. Its members have usually been portrayed as Nazi sympathizers or even as outright traitors. The author concedes that a minority of AGF members did fit that profile, but he concentrates on the activities of three of the most prominent Fellowship members, whom he portrays sympathetically. TP (Philip) Conwell-Evans was a pacifist and WW1 conscientious objector who later worked as an advisor to David Lloyd-George. Ernest Tennant came from a prominent British business family. He lost a brother and many close friends during WW1. Grahame Christie had been a WW1 fighter pilot and all-round adventurer. All three spoke fluent German, were admirers of the culture that had produced Goethe and Beethoven, and felt passionately that everything possible must be done to avoid another war between Britain and Germany. They thought that by showing goodwill towards Germany, they and other AGF members could steer the Nazis away from another war.
Up to 1937 this didn’t seem altogether unreasonable. Many of the German aristocracy greatly admired their British counterparts and sought social acceptance amongst them. The most prominent example was von Ribbentrop, whom Hitler appointed as ambassador to London. However, Ribbentrop’s time in London was so gaffe-prone that the British press nicknamed him “Brickendrop”. By the time he returned to Germany he had become convinced that Great Britain was Germany’s todfeind – deadly enemy - and he sought to convince Hitler of this.
Christie became good friends with Hermann Göring, partly of course through their shared background as fighter pilots. He gained remarkable access to high-level intelligence from the Nazi leaders, which he passed on to the British Foreign Office. He provided accurate advance intelligence of all the main aggressive moves made by the Nazis during the 1930s – the Rhineland, the Anschluss, the Sudetenland, and the occupation of Bohemia and Moravia. All of his information proved to be correct and his predictions on timing were accurate to within a few days. It’s frustrating to read about the lack of action taken in response. The author argues there were two clear chances to stop Hitler. One was at the remilitarisation of the Rhineland, the other during the Sudeten crisis. The detailed arguments are in the book.
Conwell-Evans and Tennant also largely lost faith in the peace process after Munich and after the Kristallnacht, coming to realise that the Nazis could not be reformed. They continued to make what efforts they could to avoid war though, primarily through contacts with Göring, whom they regarded as the most level-headed of the Nazi leaders (it’s all relative).
Of course, after the war broke out, any past association with the Nazi leaders was viewed with great suspicion, and after the war the former members of the AGF tended to keep very quiet about their pre-war activities. The author argues though, that the trio he features were guilty of nothing more than well-intentioned naivety, and that Germanophilia and a desire for Anglo-German amity should not be conflated with being pro-Nazi.
I could talk a lot more about these issues, but my review is long enough. A well-researched and well-written book.
September 22, 2022
3.5 stars
Review of the audiobook narrated by Simon Vance.
An interesting little-known story about efforts in the 1930s by some British leaders to “civilize” and thereby avoid war with Nazi Germany. It’s a bit dry, but I did not lose interest. Simon Vance's top-notch narration is perfect for this subject
Review of the audiobook narrated by Simon Vance.
An interesting little-known story about efforts in the 1930s by some British leaders to “civilize” and thereby avoid war with Nazi Germany. It’s a bit dry, but I did not lose interest. Simon Vance's top-notch narration is perfect for this subject
March 26, 2023
The thorny subject of appeasement is tackled here in a wonderfully written tome with gusto, elan, wit and plentiful insight using some previously untapped sources which the author deployed Poirot style detection to track down. Not often in a historical book one gets to dine on the terrace with Himmler, have roast chicken at the Chancellery, whisky with Goring and coffee with Hitler -- plus if you are truly hard hatted and bring a plentiful supply of matches for one's eyes a four hour haranguing from puffed up peacock Joachim Ribbentrop ...'Hitler's Bismarck'...for tea. Admittedly barring the whisky with Goring they all sound like invitations one would decline but those who wished to avoid war in the 1930's thought it wise to do so including Lloyd George who took coffee with Hitler in Berchtesgaden. The great Welsh statesman wrote an ill advised article subsequently in the Daily Express but as Spicer points out he also argued for rearmament especially the air force and even arch anti-appeaser Churchill also commented in 1938 he had "always said that if Great Britain were defeated in war, I hope we should find a Hitler to lead us back to our rightful position among the nations." The author introduces us to three/four fascinating 'amateurs' Ernest Tennant, Thomas Conwell-Evans, (Group Captain) Grahame Christie and Philip Kerr (no not he of Bernie Gunther fame) Marquess of Lothian. A quartet to treasure not short of courage (especially Conwell-Evans and Christie). Their eyes were opened after years of thinking jaw jaw was the way forward to civilise the Nazis -- largely through the Anglo-German Fellowship -- to open contempt for Hitler and his acolytes and that they were bent on war. Indeed Christie and Conwell-Evans at no small risk to their lives kept returning to Germany to tap their intelligence resources -- at another arch anti-appeaser Sir Robert 'Van' Vansittart's bidding. Tennant it was who had to put up with the white knickerbocker wearing Ribbentrops' four hour tirade at tea in a Castle near Salzburg -- only later was it discovered Ribbentrop (or Brickendrop as he became known for his disastrous bloopers during his unloved stay as Ambassador in London) had requisitioned the hunting lodge from friends of his wife's who had been sent to a camp for objecting to the Anschluss. The only Nazi paladin that emerges with some credit is Goring -- he saves Christie's life by warning a mutual acquaintance that the Gestapo were on to him -- and is a man that Chamberlain wanted to bring to London for last minute talks....a certain Guy Burgess puts the spoke into those wheels. Even at Nuremberg the flamboyant Great War hero was 'Eloquent, detailed and persuasive, his barnstorming performance, with no hint of mea culpa, demolished the arguments of the American prosecutor Robert Jackson, so effectively that the poor man suffered a nervous collapse days later.' Thankfully masterful British advocacy saved the day as Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe ensured Goring was held to account for his horrific crimes. His guilt had been 'unique in its enormity' concluded the judges. However, Maxwell-Fyfe was equally as dismissive of Tennant and Conwell-Evans when the shattered Ribbentrop -- the peacock had lost its feathers and cast a shabby unwashed look in the dock -- demanded that they along with George VI, Winston Churchill and a host of aristocrats he had known in England testify in his favour. Tennant was described as 'a gentleman of no official position' and Conwell-Evans received even shorter shrift with Maxwell-Fyfe declaring 'he was 'not even in Who's Who'. They deserved better than that. It is a pleasant surprise to see the Earl of Halifax emerge with great credit his eyes opened when he met with Hitler in Berchtesgaden in 1937. The chapter is splendidly titled 'Sending a curate to visit a tiger'. Hitler remarked resolving the problem of Gandhi could be solved by first shooting him and then members of the Congress Party.....Halifax gazed at his host with a 'mixture of astonishment, repugnance and compassion.' Halifax gamely battled the triumvirate of Chamberlain, his closest advisor Sir Horace Wilson and the appalling ambassador to Germany Nevile Henderson over appeasement. Halifax clashed with Chamberlain over Kristallnacht as the PM 'refused to provoke Hitler by taking definitive action against Germany or changing strategy'. Christie, Tennant, Conwell-Evans as well as Lothian (whose short spell as ambassador to the US -- cut brutally short when he died of blood poisoning -- secured aid and laid the groundwork for much more) deserve to be lauded and not to be damned as they saw the error of their ways which is courageous enough but went further and contributed much intelligence that the professional spooks would not have come up with. Apologies for the ahem unsurprisingly long warble and you may need several coffees to get through it ...however this is a masterful account of a fascinating period enhanced by bringing to the public eye some remarkable characters who deserve their moment in the sunshine.
April 28, 2024
Charles Spicer highlights the efforts of four relatively unknown men to avoid war in the mid- to late 1930s, first as “appeasers” and then to help the British government position itself to block Nazi aggression. As upper-crust English and Scotsmen, they had traveled throughout Germany and made many contacts there. They spoke the language. They founded an Anglo-German Fellowship that played a bigger role in the diplomatic crises of the run up to the war than the British public has remembered. Academics, politicians, and society leaders belonged. Even hard-core anti-appeasers listened to what the group had to say, seeing it as a bellwether for appeasement views. Spies from all sides used it. Kim Philby actually was secretary at one point. MI5 and MI6 penetrated it.
Yes, it was a vehicle for appeasement, but that basic stance gave the foursome credibility in their work with and against the Nazis. Grahame Christie, Ernest Tennant, and Philip Conwell-Evans were the founders of the Fellowship and are the chief focus of this story. Philip Kerr Lord Lothian was Connell-Evans first political recruit. As Lloyd George’s secretary at the Versailles peace conference in 1918, Lothian had drafted the notorious “war guilt”clause, holding Germany responsible for the outbreak of hostilities, yet he never lost his conviction that the French had been needlessly harsh on the vanquished Germans. He was far from the stereotype of the declining aristocratic reactionary, being firmly on the political left, and made a wonderful ambassador to the United States in later years. As Hitler moved closer and closer to open hostility, these four men realized that the price the Nazis wanted was too high. To different degrees, they turned their considerable talents to support first Chamberlain and then Churchill to avoid conflict. Unfortunately, history remembers the appeasement, not the turn-around.
Conwell-Evans provided assessments of the Nazi government to all four British PMs who held office in Hitler’s dozen years of power. He had penetrated the upper ranks of National Socialism, right up to the Führer himself, more deeply than any other Britain. Though closest to Ribbentrop, the foreign minister, he was also well connected with Hitler’s two deputies, Göring and Hess. At the same time he was ingratiating himself with the senior Nazis, Conwell-Evans was befriending the cabal of civil servants within the German foreign ministry, whose sustained effort to remove Hitler from office came closest to success.
Christie worked closely with Conwell-Evans and with a different set of German contacts to develop crucial intelligence. One of Christie’s best contacts, Theo Kordt, Chargé at the German Embassy in London, warned the British government of the specific date of Hitler’s planned invasion of Czechoslovakia. The PM decided not to “provoke” Hitler by making a statement. The one anodyne statement sent for Hitler, the incompetent Ambassador Henderson refused to deliver. While history records the effort by senior German officers to assassinate Hitler, Spicer describes several others sketches by German civil servants and lower-level military officers to arrest or assassinate Hitler from 1938-1940. Both Christie and Conwell-Evans passed messages and provided meeting places related to these schemes.
Tennant never had as much direction from the FM as Christie and Conwell-Evans. However, he did have excellent business and academic contacts with the Third Reich and friendly links with both Ribbentrop and Hess. He had traveled to Germany and Italy, disguised as a businessman, so he was familiar with the railways, food distribution, and similar issues; he provided valuable intelligence on these topics to the British civil service.
In 1939, Chamberlain appointed Lord Lothian as Ambassador to the U.S. where the latter - now passionately pro-war - did much to build public understanding that Britain would stay the course. He helped persuade the reluctant United States into the conflict and served as a sharp contrast to America’s Ambassador Kennedy in London.
“Brickendrop” as Ambassador: initially an ardent Anglophile, Ribbentrop was thrilled to be appointed Ambassador to London. His gaffes and social miscues gave him the humorous nickname. By the time he wrapped up his tour of duty, he had lost his affection for the English, though he continued to receive the amateur diplomats as FM. Tennant last saw him in June 1939 at the Schloss Fuschl, 25 km from Berchtesgaden. The castle had been built by the Salzburg prince archbishops in the 15th century as a hunting lodge. Tenant understood that the Führer had provided the property, which included an estate, complete with a nine-hole golf course, and the neighboring village, when, in truth, Ribbentrop had unlawfully confiscated it from Austrian family friends of his wife, who had been imprisoned in Dachau concentration camp for resisting the Anschluss.
Perhaps the peak of British-German positive relations under this “amateur diplomacy” came in September 1936 when Philip Conwell-Evans accompanied David Lloyd George, a former PM much admired by Hitler, on a trip to Berchtesgaden. There Hitler discussed with Lloyd George his well-known Faustian pact; in return for his recognizing the vital interests of the British Empire, England should accept German hegemony on the continent, which was necessary for her to maintain a “proper standard of life for her people.” As with earlier British visitors, Hitler fixated on the “disintegrating force” of Bolshevist ideology which threatened the existence of the nations states of Europe, comparable to the Muhammadan invasion. Every time Russia had been mentioned Lloyd George later told another associate, Hitler’s “lips began to twitch convulsively,”and soon he would be “shouting again, all but foaming at the mouth.”
Hitler had an odd obsession with another former PM Stanley Baldwin. The PM would never agree to visit Germany during or after his tenure. A cabal of pacifist lords led by Londonderry tried to get Baldwin to go to propose peace terms in 1939, to no avail.
Spicer gives a brief sketch of the disposition of some of the well-known British fascists. Widespread arrests in 1940 curtailed the activities of the most prominent fascist groups, including Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists. Mosley was married to Diana Mitford in Berlin in 1936. He was imprisoned in May 1940 and the BUF was banned. Spicer says there were even rumors that the Security Service would detain Lord Londonderry. He was “left exposed to public ignominy and without political friends.” Lord Redesdale, Unity Mitford’s father wrote a sharp letter to The Times insisting that he really did want Britain to win the war and was not a fascist. Corporate sponsors of the Fellowship quickly moved onto a war footing.
It is not just another book about appeasement. It is about the effort to avoid war. Spicer argues that more energetic diplomacy and tighter trade and investment ties would have helped defuse the tensions that built up in the late twenties and early thirties. Rearmament in Britain and firmer responses to Hitler’s initial expansionist forays, especially through better alliances with the U. S., Russia, France, and Czechoslovakia, would have given a sharp setback to the then-fragile Nazi regime.
Christie writing well into the decades after the war reflects the genuine concerns people had.
Dates!!! As usual, I want more of them.
Yes, it was a vehicle for appeasement, but that basic stance gave the foursome credibility in their work with and against the Nazis. Grahame Christie, Ernest Tennant, and Philip Conwell-Evans were the founders of the Fellowship and are the chief focus of this story. Philip Kerr Lord Lothian was Connell-Evans first political recruit. As Lloyd George’s secretary at the Versailles peace conference in 1918, Lothian had drafted the notorious “war guilt”clause, holding Germany responsible for the outbreak of hostilities, yet he never lost his conviction that the French had been needlessly harsh on the vanquished Germans. He was far from the stereotype of the declining aristocratic reactionary, being firmly on the political left, and made a wonderful ambassador to the United States in later years. As Hitler moved closer and closer to open hostility, these four men realized that the price the Nazis wanted was too high. To different degrees, they turned their considerable talents to support first Chamberlain and then Churchill to avoid conflict. Unfortunately, history remembers the appeasement, not the turn-around.
Conwell-Evans provided assessments of the Nazi government to all four British PMs who held office in Hitler’s dozen years of power. He had penetrated the upper ranks of National Socialism, right up to the Führer himself, more deeply than any other Britain. Though closest to Ribbentrop, the foreign minister, he was also well connected with Hitler’s two deputies, Göring and Hess. At the same time he was ingratiating himself with the senior Nazis, Conwell-Evans was befriending the cabal of civil servants within the German foreign ministry, whose sustained effort to remove Hitler from office came closest to success.
Christie worked closely with Conwell-Evans and with a different set of German contacts to develop crucial intelligence. One of Christie’s best contacts, Theo Kordt, Chargé at the German Embassy in London, warned the British government of the specific date of Hitler’s planned invasion of Czechoslovakia. The PM decided not to “provoke” Hitler by making a statement. The one anodyne statement sent for Hitler, the incompetent Ambassador Henderson refused to deliver. While history records the effort by senior German officers to assassinate Hitler, Spicer describes several others sketches by German civil servants and lower-level military officers to arrest or assassinate Hitler from 1938-1940. Both Christie and Conwell-Evans passed messages and provided meeting places related to these schemes.
Tennant never had as much direction from the FM as Christie and Conwell-Evans. However, he did have excellent business and academic contacts with the Third Reich and friendly links with both Ribbentrop and Hess. He had traveled to Germany and Italy, disguised as a businessman, so he was familiar with the railways, food distribution, and similar issues; he provided valuable intelligence on these topics to the British civil service.
In 1939, Chamberlain appointed Lord Lothian as Ambassador to the U.S. where the latter - now passionately pro-war - did much to build public understanding that Britain would stay the course. He helped persuade the reluctant United States into the conflict and served as a sharp contrast to America’s Ambassador Kennedy in London.
“Brickendrop” as Ambassador: initially an ardent Anglophile, Ribbentrop was thrilled to be appointed Ambassador to London. His gaffes and social miscues gave him the humorous nickname. By the time he wrapped up his tour of duty, he had lost his affection for the English, though he continued to receive the amateur diplomats as FM. Tennant last saw him in June 1939 at the Schloss Fuschl, 25 km from Berchtesgaden. The castle had been built by the Salzburg prince archbishops in the 15th century as a hunting lodge. Tenant understood that the Führer had provided the property, which included an estate, complete with a nine-hole golf course, and the neighboring village, when, in truth, Ribbentrop had unlawfully confiscated it from Austrian family friends of his wife, who had been imprisoned in Dachau concentration camp for resisting the Anschluss.
Perhaps the peak of British-German positive relations under this “amateur diplomacy” came in September 1936 when Philip Conwell-Evans accompanied David Lloyd George, a former PM much admired by Hitler, on a trip to Berchtesgaden. There Hitler discussed with Lloyd George his well-known Faustian pact; in return for his recognizing the vital interests of the British Empire, England should accept German hegemony on the continent, which was necessary for her to maintain a “proper standard of life for her people.” As with earlier British visitors, Hitler fixated on the “disintegrating force” of Bolshevist ideology which threatened the existence of the nations states of Europe, comparable to the Muhammadan invasion. Every time Russia had been mentioned Lloyd George later told another associate, Hitler’s “lips began to twitch convulsively,”and soon he would be “shouting again, all but foaming at the mouth.”
Hitler had an odd obsession with another former PM Stanley Baldwin. The PM would never agree to visit Germany during or after his tenure. A cabal of pacifist lords led by Londonderry tried to get Baldwin to go to propose peace terms in 1939, to no avail.
Spicer gives a brief sketch of the disposition of some of the well-known British fascists. Widespread arrests in 1940 curtailed the activities of the most prominent fascist groups, including Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists. Mosley was married to Diana Mitford in Berlin in 1936. He was imprisoned in May 1940 and the BUF was banned. Spicer says there were even rumors that the Security Service would detain Lord Londonderry. He was “left exposed to public ignominy and without political friends.” Lord Redesdale, Unity Mitford’s father wrote a sharp letter to The Times insisting that he really did want Britain to win the war and was not a fascist. Corporate sponsors of the Fellowship quickly moved onto a war footing.
It is not just another book about appeasement. It is about the effort to avoid war. Spicer argues that more energetic diplomacy and tighter trade and investment ties would have helped defuse the tensions that built up in the late twenties and early thirties. Rearmament in Britain and firmer responses to Hitler’s initial expansionist forays, especially through better alliances with the U. S., Russia, France, and Czechoslovakia, would have given a sharp setback to the then-fragile Nazi regime.
Christie writing well into the decades after the war reflects the genuine concerns people had.
Dates!!! As usual, I want more of them.
December 26, 2023
A book filled to the brim with historical adventures, carefully portrayed protagonists and wit, Coffee with Hitler explores a much lesser known aspect of Anglo-German relations pre-war. Analysing the protagonists well-intetioned role in the Anglo-German diplomacy leading up to WW2 in particular, and masterfully portraying the geopolitical and socioeconomic situation pre war in both Germany and Britain in general, Charles Spicer manages to keep the reader engaged, in what I found to be an enrichment of my understanding of the pre-war world.
Nevertheless, the book does require a heap of knowledge about a variety of aspects regarding both the Nazi regime and the general political landscape at the time. Readers lacking some of that knowledge may find the book confusing, especially due to occasional timeline jumps.
All in all, I recommend this book to anyone interested in this (admittedly) niche part of history.
Nevertheless, the book does require a heap of knowledge about a variety of aspects regarding both the Nazi regime and the general political landscape at the time. Readers lacking some of that knowledge may find the book confusing, especially due to occasional timeline jumps.
All in all, I recommend this book to anyone interested in this (admittedly) niche part of history.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 24, 2023
A specialized book that will be enjoyed more by readers with a good prior understanding of the political and diplomatic tensions between Germany and Great Britain prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. Its focus is on a small slice of the complicated history leading to war.
I think the book's subtitle (The Untold Story of the Amateur Spies Who Tried to Civilize the Nazis) is misleading and aimed at hyping sales. The people featured by Dr. Spicer are not "spies" in the James Bond sense of the word. They are, in the main, sincere Englishmen who used meetings with political and social figures from the Reich in attempts to further good relations between the two countries. Also, the statement they were trying to "civilize" the Nazis is the definition of a fool's errand. And, they weren't all fools.
In the end this book is aimed at reminding one that there was a crucial difference between those in Britain during the 1930s who admired the culture and people of Germany (and worked for peace) versus those who were advocates of (or totally blind to) Hitler and his poisonous policies.
I think the book's subtitle (The Untold Story of the Amateur Spies Who Tried to Civilize the Nazis) is misleading and aimed at hyping sales. The people featured by Dr. Spicer are not "spies" in the James Bond sense of the word. They are, in the main, sincere Englishmen who used meetings with political and social figures from the Reich in attempts to further good relations between the two countries. Also, the statement they were trying to "civilize" the Nazis is the definition of a fool's errand. And, they weren't all fools.
In the end this book is aimed at reminding one that there was a crucial difference between those in Britain during the 1930s who admired the culture and people of Germany (and worked for peace) versus those who were advocates of (or totally blind to) Hitler and his poisonous policies.
August 30, 2024
Fantastic from start to finish. Brilliantly written, Spicer doesn’t talk down to the reader but still keeps things easy to understand. He’s conscise throughout, and even though there are a lot of people involved, both on the British and German sides, Spicer always reminds the reader who is who and has a thorough dramatis personae. Also refers to the Nazis as National Socialists, and refers to the party as the NSDAP, as ‘Nazi’ was never something they referred to themselves by.
10/10, great book.
10/10, great book.
June 22, 2023
Pleasant book with some interesting portions. The analysis seemed forced at times. Not lots of new material if you are familiar with WW2.
June 3, 2023
I bought this book, as it is written by an old friend from university days. I left it on the shelf for months, before, with a long weekend ahead, set about reading it. Everyone is interested in Hitler, but equally revulsed by his apologists. What could this book add? So much, it seems, that l could not put it down. Against the grain of current revisionist history, it gives context to decisions made that hindsight proved to be incorrect, ascribes nobler intentions to ultimatately thwarted strategies and re-appraises a complex period in European history that is convincing. Spicer writes fluently, wittily, distilling deep scholarship into a very readable history book. Spicer gives life to little-known but extraordinary characters, Tennant, Christie, Cinwell-Evans trying to save Europe from itself, as well adding fascinating detail on well-known events such as Chamberlain's hapless trips to Munich. Rarely does a book match the blurb on the cover, but this is an "exceptionally well-written book."
Read
February 16, 2023Interesting. A tad long and harder to finish.
May 20, 2023
The historiography around appeasement in this book is excellent.
June 7, 2024
An exploration of pre war relations with Germany and the UK from the perspective of the people who hoped to civilise the third reich. This was an in depth account of how a group of people working initially to try to ‘understand’ Hitler and latterly undertaking soft espionage for the Uk. The main players were joined in their commitment to their particular ideology ie appeasement or aggression but there were also examples of others who could see the writing on the wall and tried to evidence why the British government needed to see national socialism for what it really was. The book contains fine detail of the inter war years. I was particularly struck with the description of Ribbentrop and his wife as persons clearly punching above their weight whilst at the same time being a comedy duo for the upper classes. I liked the part whereby on attending the coronation they interpreted assembled nobility putting their hands up as a ‘nazi’ salute when in reality it was a prearranged signal with the staff that they needed to go to the toilet! There is humour in this book but the backdrop is dark and the impending sense of what we now know happened is ever present.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 4, 2022
*** Possible Spoilers ***
This book was well written and interesting. That said, I don't know how much credibility to assign to the author. I'm sure he has his facts correct. There was a club dedicated to improving Anglo-German relations prior to the second world war and considerably socializing did take place between upper class British and German citizens but I have to wonder if perhaps the individuals attempting to woo their German counterparts and find some sort of compromise to war weren't being played from the start. In any event this book puts a different light on certain events prior to WW2 and suggests there was sufficient resistance to Hitler in Germany the war might have been avoided if a few pieces of the puzzle had fallen differently.
This book was well written and interesting. That said, I don't know how much credibility to assign to the author. I'm sure he has his facts correct. There was a club dedicated to improving Anglo-German relations prior to the second world war and considerably socializing did take place between upper class British and German citizens but I have to wonder if perhaps the individuals attempting to woo their German counterparts and find some sort of compromise to war weren't being played from the start. In any event this book puts a different light on certain events prior to WW2 and suggests there was sufficient resistance to Hitler in Germany the war might have been avoided if a few pieces of the puzzle had fallen differently.
November 15, 2022
I thought I knew most things about WW2 and Hitler. Yet here I am reading Coffee with Hitler. I had not even heard of the Fellowship and David Lloyd George, Ernest Tennant and the Duke of Hamilton, and how they pursued their own diplomacy- completely unchecked either by government intervention or common sense. Well written and a fascinating read . Five stars
February 6, 2023
An interesting idea. Should we ever appease dictators?
March 31, 2023
Fascinating research that missed its chance to be a page turner due to reading more like the research paper it was.
April 21, 2023
It is researched in great detail. This is a book for book clubs or history buffs. I didn’t know this British history.
February 12, 2024
Excellent and fascinating account of the people who tried to avert WW2 through attempting to build Anglo-German friendships but sadly, as we know, to no avail. Their efforts recognised the dangers of appeasing Hitler and tried to build bridges with other parties who might have supplanted him before he got too dangerous. Sadly too, their efforts were blighted by the presence of British fascists in the group and the actions of the Nazis such that after the war the UK members faced the danger of being tarnished as Nazis. Ultimately they did built connections for Allied intelligence and you can't help thinking that maybe, if some of them had been listened to at the time by the powers that be, the calamity that unfolded could have been avoided. A great read on a much overlooked period of history.
March 25, 2024
I have always been fascinated by the thirties,as it has influenced so much of what came after.
This is an interesting book with an interesting premise,one with which I don't agree.
I have had the benefit of reading the three excellent books written by Richard Griffiths on the pre war far right,and I believe that his analysis is right.
There were two types.of people joining the Anglo German Fellowship,those who wanted to promote friendship with Germany and those who were avid followers.I believe that the latter were in the majority.Just being a member of such an organisation must make you rather suspect
This is an interesting book with an interesting premise,one with which I don't agree.
I have had the benefit of reading the three excellent books written by Richard Griffiths on the pre war far right,and I believe that his analysis is right.
There were two types.of people joining the Anglo German Fellowship,those who wanted to promote friendship with Germany and those who were avid followers.I believe that the latter were in the majority.Just being a member of such an organisation must make you rather suspect
April 20, 2024
[2023] This is truly an unknown area of history, but not any more. The details of the 1930s and British people's attempts to pacify, appease and/or civilise the Nazi party to avoid war has been meticulously research and incredibly well told. Its not the easiest of reads and can be detailed, through and a bit overly analytical, but it is a great read and interesting, especially because we now know that they failed in their mission to avoid war.
September 5, 2024
Fascinating book on a part of history I knew very little about. We know about the appeasement prior to WW2, but I’d always believed the appeasers sleep walked into it. Turns out a lot of thought went into it.
The author does a great job of telling a story filled with larger than life characters who simultaneously inspire and disappoint.
It’s a really well researched story told brilliantly.
The author does a great job of telling a story filled with larger than life characters who simultaneously inspire and disappoint.
It’s a really well researched story told brilliantly.
April 26, 2023
It gave me a whole new perspective and understanding of the events leading up to World War II and of appeasement. A very worthwhile and interesting audiobook, but I would have remembered the details better if I had read the print version.
November 21, 2023
i guess history is indeed written by the winners, as they say. this was based on a lot of propaganda, some actually british. history needs to not be biased, but the truth. starting with the title, it was obvious that this was incredibly biased. not my cup of tea.
December 12, 2024
This is a really interesting book however I found it so hard to read. Felt like lots of essays rather than a story, brought me back to my uni days. Never knowing anything about the Anglo-German fellowship it was incredibly insightful, just wish it was easier to follow.
February 7, 2023
A niche-y deep dive. Super well-researched, interesting throughout, and not prohibitively long or sloggy. I learned a lot!
October 2, 2023
This was a fascinating and remarkably well-researched book on a very little-known topic. Fascinating and very well-written,
October 18, 2023
No civilising these monsters.
January 12, 2024
Lots of history, great book.
June 14, 2025
Exciting, witty, very informative. And the end, which describes how all the main characters in the book ended up, is very touching. History as it should be written.
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