Coffee With Hitler

The Story of the Amateur Spies Who Tried to Civilize the Nazis

Charles Spicer

• Publisher: Pegasus Books
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781639362271
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World War II
• Index: History

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. "Howmight the British have handled Hitler differently?"remains one of history's greatest "what ifs." Coffeewith Hitler tellsthe astounding story of how a handful of amateur Britishintelligence agents wined, dined, and befriendedthe leading NationalSocialists between the wars. With support from royalty, aristocracy, politicians, and businessmen, they hoped to use the recently foundedAnglo-German Fellowship as a vehicle to civilize and enlighten the Nazis.Atthe heart of the story are a pacifist Welsh historian, a World War I flying ace, and a butterfly-collecting businessman, who together offered the Britishgovernment 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 intoitssecond twentieth-century war, these three protagonists operated within theBritish Establishment. They infiltrated the Nazi high command deeper than anyotherspies, relaying accurate intelligence to both their government and to itsanti-appeasing critics. Straddling the porous border between hard and softdiplomacy, their activities fuelled tensions between the amateur and theprofessional diplomats in both London and Berlin. Having established a personalrapport withPresident Franklin D. Roosevelt, they delivered intelligence tohim directly, too, paving the way for American military support for Great Britain againstthe Nazi threat.Thesettings for their public efforts ranged from tea parties in Downing Street, banquets at London's best hotels, and the Coronation of George VI to coffeeand cake at Hitler's Bavarian mountain home, champagne galas at the BerlinOlympics, and afternoon receptions at the Nuremberg Rallies. More privateencountersbetween the elites of both powers were nurtured by shooting weekends atEnglish country homes, whisky drinking sessions at German estates, discreetmeetings in London apartments, and whispered exchanges in the corridors of embassiesand foreign ministries.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Introduction
• Prologue: Lloyd George’s Nazi
• Part One: June 1934–September 1936
• Part Two: October 1936–November 1938
• Part Three: December 1938–May 1941
• Epilogue: None So Blind as Those Who Will Not See
• Conclusion
• Photographs
• Acknowledgments
• Dramatis Personae
• About the Author
• Bibliography
• Notes
• Index
• Copyright