The Ghost of Munich

by Georges-Marc Benamou, Shaun Whiteside (Translator)

On September 29th 1938 the fate of a country was sealed at Munich. Hitler, Mussolini, Neville Chamberlain and the President of France, Edouard Daladier negotiated the handover to Germany of the Sudetenlands, and with it came the betrayal of a nation by the great European powers. Chamberlain claimed 'Peace with honour'. Daladier returned to Paris a hero, the man who saved France from another disastrous war with Germany. Yet he knew he had failed. 'I had been knocked out of the ring,' he says in this extraordinary novel, based upon detailed historical research. Scene by scene, hour by hour the reader accompanies Daladier from his departure to Munich to his triumphant but ultimately tragic return to Paris. In Germany we sit with him and the other leaders at the conference table, and as the tensions of the fateful day build up, the political twists and turns and the personal animosities intensify. History made Daladier the Ghost of Munich, the forgotten dupe, the fool cast to oblivion for his role in a thirteen hour blackmail. This is his story. The Ghost of Munich has the sharpness of film, the drama of tragedy and the truth of history.

Genres: History, World War II

352 pages, Paperback

First published March 7, 2007

Reviews

[Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very unusual approach to this monumental event. It gets inside the heads, the idiosyncracies, the personal lives, the weaknesses of character, and the complex pressures at play on Daladier (President of France) and Neville Chamberlain, in the tragic Munich conference of 1938, which led to the betrayal of the Czech republic by the allies. The book works just as well as a study in human psychology (or should one simply say human weakness), as it does as a meticulously researched history.

[R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

History lessons at school tend to oversimplify the World Wars. For instance, WW2 had always been, "Germany invaded Czechoslovakia first, then Poland. Britain, who initially followed a pacifist approach when it came to Hitler and his war-hungry Germany, declared war on Germany along with France. Within the year, France was defeated and occupied by Germany..."
This book, though, was an eye-opening account of what was transpiring behind the scenes during the signing of the Munich Agreement in September, 1938. Although it is fictional, and uses as its protagonist the little-known French President of the time (M. Edouard Daladier, on whom even wiki is scanty) it covers the tensions and interplays that were prevalent at the time. From France's internal cracks to Chamberlain's reasons for waiting Hitler out, the spectre of Russia's ambitions to the relationship between Mussolini and Hitler themselves, the author walks us through what could have been - and still leaving us gaps to fill in as our imagination (and research abilities) warrants.
In a way, there are a lot of parallels between the France of those days and the troubled countries of today. It is a thought-provoking work, but it is also a slow-paced one - so unless you are committed to it, you might be tempted to surrender the book halfway.

[Mark Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tale about one of the most dramatic meetings in history... In retrospect a lot of things are assumed but this book explores why decisions were made and what the alternatives could have been. Whether Munich gave the British the time to prepare (although that was probably not the intention) or for Germany to be ready is a debate. No one comes out of this well. Written as a retrospective with a modern journalist seeking an interview with the last remaining participant frames the story.

[Maglaiz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Češi by se měli zajímat o to, jak je Mnichov 1938 vnímán v zahraničí a jaké možnosti měli jednotliví "zrádci ze Západu". Odmítám tvrdit, že tato kniha je apologií Daladiera, na to je až příliš analytická.

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who would have expected a novel about the meeting in Munich to settle the Sudetenland crisis? Written from the point of view of Deladier. Interesting characterizations of the key players.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this fine piece of work is a novel, it reads like real, well-told history. Benamou, who as a political journalist has plenty of insight into the levers of power (working as a cultural adviser to Sarkozy...this novel being published in 2007). He turns this focus on the events of 29 September 1938 when the fate of Czechoslovakia was decided by the four most powerful European powers...Hitler's Nazi Germany, Mussolini's Fascist Italy..& the two ham-strung democracies, Great Britain represented by Neville Chamberlain & France by Edouard Deladier...that's Daladier! (Tell me honestly what you know about him if you live in the Anglo-Saxon world?!). Benamou's portayal of Daladier is a brilliant exposition of the man's insoluble dilemma at the Munich 'Conference'; how to extract France from their commitment to their plucky if reckless Czech allies & protegees, without upsetting the apple-cart with their totalitarian rivals or their reluctant Euro allies, Great Britain. Daladier demonstrably fails to achieve a satisfactory result but returns to Paris to triumphant public acclaim, bewildered that such another Waterloo for Glorious France should be greeted as a victory rather than a catastrophic humiliation.But the western democracies were playing for time, with Britain reluctant to stifle Germany's expansionism again, & France, with an enfeebled air-force & a strong pacifist streak.
A totally engrossing novel, with imaginative recreations based on exhaustive research of the diplomatic shenanigans at Munich, with Hitler the evil host & master-of-ceremonies, Mussolini the duplicitous clown-prince, Chamberlain with his furled umbrella but stripped of his dignity & Daladier desperately trying to keep his political head when his Provencal heart is telling him that he should fight tooth-&-nail to save the Czechs, even if France must go to war, unprepared & hopelessly divided.
Exceptionally good!

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Odd little novel. Originally published in the eighties and only recently translated into English.

The narrative covers a brief span of time around the (in)famous Munich meeting of 1938 at which the four major European powers agreed that the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia should be ceded to Germany.

The novel is framed by an interview with Daladier (French president and representative at Munich) many years later. The interviewing journalist tells the story of the conference from the viewpoints of the key participants, interspersed with direct conversations with Daladier.

In many ways it's an odd topic for a work of fiction. The broad facts are well understood and well covered by historians. The only development the novelist is able to bring is an attempt to get into the heads of the participants and try to explain the outcome in terms of their characters and personal histories. To me, this seems singularly unsuccessful - even a superficial knowledge of the men in question is sufficient to contradict the portraits he paints. The suggestion seems to be that these (largely imagined) personal weaknesses were the primary cause of England's and France's part in the agreement. It's hard to take this view seriously. Chamberlain and Daladier were both tough and highly experienced politicians, assisted by very able advisers. Whether or not their decisions at Munich can be considered right, or good, they were certainly decisions taken in a calculated fashion.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not my usual sort of read, but however, it concerns the betrayal of the Czech people in the run up to WW2. You have to ask, what would have happened if the 'allied' nations had stood up to Hitler then?

This book takes you into the world of pre WW2 politics when the Europe trembled with the rise of the Nazis. The backwards and forwards of the negotiators from Britain is intermingled with a plot to usurp Hitler from within Germany itself.

I enjoyed this book and have no hesitation recommending this to you

[Christoph Fischer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well written and meticulously researched illustration of the meeting in Munich that determined the destiny of Czechoslovakia. The author choose the perspective of French President Daladier as he is defeated by rhetoric and diplomatic moves and a lack of willingness to confront Hitler.
Although I knew the basics I was surprised at the many convincing and plausible details, the characterisation of the people on the negotiation table and the human factor involved.

[Sis_P5E_Angelronda · Rating 5 out of 5]

On September 29th 1938 the fate of a country was sealed at Munich. Hilter, Mussolini, Neville Chamberlainand the presidant of France, Edouard Daladier, negoted the handover to germany of the Seadentenlands, and when it came the betrayal of a nation by the great Europien powers..............

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kniha mě trochu zklamala. Byla napsaná tak, že mě nedokázala pohltit, ani mě moc nebavila. Sice jsem se dozvěděla pár historických zajímavostí navíc, ale čekala jsem víc.