Coffee with Hitler: The British Amateurs Who Tried to Civilise the Nazis

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Charles Spicer tells the chilling story of how otherwise respectable men and women became pawns in a game of international intrigue with a reprehensible regime. Coffee with Hitler tells the astounding true story of a handful of amateur British intelligence agents who wined, dined and befriended the leading National Socialists between the wars.

Tension builds as the three Germanophile's close friendships with the top echelons of the Nazi leadership get further and further strained as war approaches. With more than a few spies, rogues, and plot twists along the way, Spicer tells a story that could be ripped from the pages of a novel.As a lesson of history, this excellent book is a sober reminder to policymakers to look at the evidence in plain sight. The similarities with Russia’s current ambitions to take back territory lost in the break up of the USSR and with Germany’s ambitions to do the same with territories lost in WW1 are stark and chilling.

The cleverly worked friendships with Ribbentrop, Goring and Goebbels, are explained in precise and reliable detail, that form the platform for approach to HItler himself. History has overlooked the three amateurs who, despite their heroic efforts and best intentions, could not stop the descent into hell of the National Socialists. Washington Post 'In this terrific debut, historian Charles Spicer genuinely enriches and deepens our understanding of the Thirties - the all-important decade in which the great and the good of these islands, scarred to the depths of their souls by the Great War, struggled to avoid a second global conflict. ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING - a major and unique contribution to the body of evidence / information on a vital period of European history.This compelling book captures the double-edged nature of “one mainstay of British values” – giving “even the most blatantly disgusting people the benefit of the doubt. Spicer describes his intentions in writing Coffee With Hitler as being explicitly about those who sought to “civilise” rather than “appease” the Nazis. Entwined within story is of course, the known expeditions of the British Government and in particular Neville Chamberlain, so often portrayed as the naive fall guy. The story of Tennant, Conwell-Evans and Christie and their historical journey is an absorbing one, which casts light on many aspects of the period. For a moment, it genuinely seemed as if amicable relations would persist between the two countries, thanks in part to the work of the Fellowship.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Importantly, the author has provided a reliable and strong backdrop on the positions of various nations including Russia, Austria, Czechoslavakia (now The Czech Republic), Italy, France, and Spain (who were themselves split through civil war during the same period). They consisted of “a leftwing, pacifist Welsh political secretary, a conservative, butterfly-collecting Old Etonian businessman and a pioneering Great War fighter ace”. The process starts in June 1934 with efforts continuing right-up to the outbreak of the second world war in September 1939; with the addition of a further crucial commentary on the period from September 1939 through to May 1941.and, in some circles, quiet satisfaction that a vigorous reformer had shaken up his country in an apparently effective and forward-looking fashion.

Drawing on newly discovered primary sources, Charles Spencer sheds light on the early career of Kim Philby, Winston Churchill’s approach to appeasement, the US entry into the war and the Rudolf Hess affair, in a groundbreaking reassessment of Britain's relationship with Nazi Germany. A pacifist Welsh historian, a Great War flying ace, a butterfly-collecting businessman… Coffee With Hitler offers a rare glimpse into a motley crew who would provide the British government with better intelligence on the horrifying rise of the Nazis than anyone else. Coffee With Hitler offers a rare glimpse into a motley crew who would provide the British government with better intelligence on the horrifying rise of the Nazis than anyone else. Charles Spicer reveals the bold attempt of a handful of British intelligence agents to infiltrate and civilise the Nazi hierarchy. Coffee with Hitler tells the astounding and poignant story, for the first time, of a handful of amateur British intelligence agents who wined, dined and befriended the leading National Socialists between the wars.How wonderful, for instance, that when Sir Anthony Eden finally met Hitler (for one of the many coffees the book describes) his main observation concerned the quality of Hitler's tailoring.