Making Friends with Hitler: Lord Londonderry, the Nazis, and the Road to War

by Ian Kershaw

Overview

Ian Kershaw’s biography of Adolf Hitler is widely regarded as the definitive work on the subject, as well as one of the most brilliant biographies of our time. In Making Friends with Hitler, the great scholar shines remarkable new light on decisions that led to war by tracing the extraordinary story of Lord Londonderry—one of Britain’s wealthiest aristocrats, cousin of Winston Churchill, confidant of the king, and the only British cabinet member to outwardly support the Nazi party. Through Londonderry’s tragic tale, Kershaw shows us that behind the accepted dogma of English appeasement and German bullying is a much more complicated and interesting reality—full of miscalculations on both sides that proved to be among the most fateful in history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101567982
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/25/2005
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	512
Sales rank:	938,042
File size:	4 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Ian Kershaw, author of To Hell and Back, The End, Fateful Choices, and Making Friends with Hitler, is a British historian of twentieth-century Germany noted for his monumental biographies of Adolf Hitler. In 2002, he received his knighthood for services to history. He is a fellow of the British Academy, the Royal Historical Society, the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, and the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung in Bonn, Germany. His newest book, Personality and Power, will be published in November, 2022.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Ackowledgments
Map: European Territorial Issues Between the Wars
Preface

Prologue: A Patrician's Progress

1. Illusions and Delusions about Hitler

2. Downfall of the Air Minister

3. Nazi Friends

4. Lengthening Shadows

5. Hope at Last

6. End of the Dream

7. Out in the Cold

Epilogue: Mount Stewart, September 1947

Abbreviations
Notes
Archival Sources
List of Newspapers and Magazines Cited
List of Works Cited
Index

Editorial Reviews

Born into a class that regarded wealth and political influence as its rightful due, Lord Londonderry was known for his pro-German attitudes long before 1933, especially in calling for revisions to the Versailles Treaty. Kershaw (modern history, Univ. of Sheffield, U.K.; Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris) correctly points out that Londonderry's stance was not unique among his class, and yet he is often singled out as a Nazi sympathizer. Londonderry's own actions set the stage for his downfall: despite his many advantages in wealth and family connections, he was the victim of his own incompetence and ego. His political career began to fade even as the European situation began to disintegrate. Dismissed from his post as air minister and then from the Cabinet, Londonderry thought he could undermine his enemies by embarking on a series of private diplomatic initiatives, designed to bring Germany and Britain closer together. His trips succeeded only in bringing Londonderry closer to the Nazi leadership, if not entirely in politics then in photo opportunities. The book provides insights into both British politics and Anglo-German diplomacy in the appeasement era. Recommended for all libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 7/04.]-Frederic Krome, Jacob Rader Marcus Ctr. of the American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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