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

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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. In this refreshingly objective book, Spicer profiles the Anglo-German Fellowship, a 1930s British collective which tried to “civilise the Nazis” – some from naivety, others out of ruthless pragmatism. As a lesson of history, this excellent book is a sober reminder to policymakers to look at the evidence in plain sight.

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. 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.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.

Spicer, who has given close, neutral and unerring scrutiny of the sources, proves to be a brisk, fair-minded and authoritative revisionist… Coffee with Hitler should make it impossible to continue to lampoon the Fellowship as an unsavoury gang. Or that Hitler himself was so adamant that neither Britain nor France would do anything if he invaded Poland, that when Britain's declaration of war finally arrived at his study in the Reich Chancellery he gave Ribbentrop an icy glare and said 'what now? The outstanding narrative reads like a thriller, taking readers from the salons of stately homes and St James’s clubs to the mass rallies and diplomatic backrooms of Nazi Germany.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. Rothermere’s Daily Mail published articles praising Hitler and editorials declaring “Hurrah for the Blackshirts! The last two paragraphs of the book beautifully summarise the lessons we need to learn to navigate our current and future relationships with dictators and autocracies.

Coffee with Hitler should make it impossible to continue to lampoon the Fellowship as an unsavoury gang.

This was accentuated by the accession of Edward VIII, a man who was described approvingly by Ribbentrop as “a kind of English National Socialist”. and, in some circles, quiet satisfaction that a vigorous reformer had shaken up his country in an apparently effective and forward-looking fashion.

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 outstanding narrative reads like a thriller, taking readers from the salons of stately homes and St James's clubs to the mass rallies and diplomatic backrooms of Nazi Germany. Charles Spicer has achieved something rare, a book that is entertaining and informative whilst also being an important piece of scholarship.The Oldie 'The extraordinary story of three men, a Welsh historian and political secretary, a butterfly-collecting Old Etonian and a Great War fighter ace. A must-read for all those interested and studying the 1930s; the prelude to the second world war; diplomacy; and politics of the period.