Peter Vansittart's Books

The British Attempt to Prevent the Second World War

The Age of Anxiety

By: Peter Neville

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The British Attempt to Prevent the Second World War

The Age of Anxiety

By: Peter Neville

This book focuses on some new issues associated with British appeasement policy in the 1930s. It looks particularly at how the artificial split between international history and military history has led to the over-simplification of the factors involved in formulating the appeasement policy. It argues that, contrary to anti-appeasement mythology, Britain was not left defenceless in 1939, having in fact a highly sophisticated aerial defence system for which Baldwin and Chamberlain have received little credit. Conversely, the disaster of 1940 was not a consequence of the sins of the British appeasers, but the result of a seriously misconceived French strategy, and brilliant German planning. The book further argues that Anglo-Czech relations between 1935 and 1938 showed that both the Foreign Office and anti-appeasers had deep rooted anti-Slav prejudices. However, new Czech research shows a more sympathetic understanding of how, and why, Britain adopted the appeasement policy. Important new Soviet sources are also considered, such as notably the Maisky Diaries (2016), for their relevance to British policy.

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Page Count

290

Publisher

Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

152752602X

ISBN 13

9781527526020

Hitler and Appeasement

The British Attempt to Prevent the Second World War

By: Peter Neville

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Hitler and Appeasement

The British Attempt to Prevent the Second World War

By: Peter Neville

Appeasement's reputation as a bankrupt policy stems from the unpredictable catastrophes of the Russo-German Pact in 1939 and the Fall of France in 1940; in fact, it was an honourable, reasonable and sensible response to an appalling and unprecedented threat.

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274

Publisher

A&C Black

Published Date

ISBN 10

1852853697

ISBN 13

9781852853693

Scoring for Britain

International Football and International Politics, 1900-1939

By: Peter J. Beck

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Scoring for Britain

International Football and International Politics, 1900-1939

By: Peter J. Beck

This work studies the links between international football and politics in Britain between 1900 and 1939. It shows how the British government saw sport as an instrument of policy and cultural propaganda.

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Page Count

321

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1135230307

ISBN 13

9781135230302

R.G Collingwood and the Second World War

Facing Barbarism

By: Peter Johnson

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R.G Collingwood and the Second World War

Facing Barbarism

By: Peter Johnson

R.G Collingwood's prolific works have shaped the debate about the nature of civilisation and its status as an ideal governing art, morality and social and political existence. As one of the few philosophers to subject civilisation and barbarism to close analysis, R.G Collingwood was acutely aware of the interrelationship between philosophy and history. In Peter Johnson's highly original work, R.G Collingwood and the Second World War: Facing Barbarism, Johnson combines historical, biographical and philosophical discussion in order to illuminate Collingwood's thinking and create the first in-depth analysis of R.G Collingwood's responses to the Second World War. Peter Johnson examines how R.G Collingwood's responses to the war developed from his early rejection of appeasement as a policy for dealing with Hitler's Germany, through his view of Britain's prosecution of the war once the battle with Nazism had been joined, and finally to his picture of a future liberal society in which civility is its overriding ideal.

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Page Count

310

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1350162965

ISBN 13

9781350162969

Decision by Default

Peacetime Conscription and British Defence 1919–39

By: Peter Dennis

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Decision by Default

Peacetime Conscription and British Defence 1919–39

By: Peter Dennis

Britain’s vast losses of men in the first world war produced a revulsion against conscription. Originally published in 1972, Peter Dennis here describes how conscription was introduced once more in 1939, when pressure from within Britain and from France forced the British Government to reverse its position. With the use of original sources, Peter Dennis explores the development of British military policy between the wars, from the period of readjustment and realignment immediately after the first world war, up to the breakdown of the Chamberlain government’s pledge not to introduce conscription in peacetime. He points out that the politicians and the public were not afraid of conscription itself, but of conscription in peacetime as the forerunner of continental military adventures in alliance with France. He shows how the battles over conscription had a marked effect on the indecision of military thinking, and how, in 1939, conscription finally became the crucial issue in Britain’s preparation for war.

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Page Count

212

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1000338991

ISBN 13

9781000338997

War and Happiness

The Role of Temperament in the Assessment of Resolve

By: Peter S. Jenkins

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War and Happiness

The Role of Temperament in the Assessment of Resolve

By: Peter S. Jenkins

“Jenkins’ rare combination of psychological theorizing and archival research in several countries and time periods yields a fascinating new take on the central question of when states over-estimate or under-estimate others’ resolve. The biases that leaders and elites fall prey to appear to vary with their emotional states and senses of well-being, factors that most scholars have ignored.”—Robert Jervis, author of How Statesmen Think This groundbreaking book explains how the happiness levels of leaders, politicians and diplomats affect their assessments of the resolve of their state’s adversaries and allies. Its innovative methodology includes case studies of the origins of twelve wars with Anglo-American involvement from 1853 to 2003 and the psycholinguistic text mining of the British Hansard and the U.S. Congressional Record. /div

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383

Publisher

Springer

Published Date

ISBN 10

3030140784

ISBN 13

9783030140786

International Football as Cultural Diplomacy

Britain Versus the Dictators in the 1930s

By: Peter J. Beck

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International Football as Cultural Diplomacy

Britain Versus the Dictators in the 1930s

By: Peter J. Beck

Drawing on wide-ranging archival research, this authoritative new history examines the cultural diplomatic role played by British football in international affairs, British foreign policy, and international football during the 1930s. For British governments, soccer diplomacy emerged as a favoured instrument of soft power when facing Hitler’s Germany, Mussolini’s Italy, Hirohito’s Japan, and Stalin’s Russia on and off the field. Examining the evolving relationship between successive governments and the Football Association, this book records how governments, though publicly espousing the distinctive autonomy of British sport, pursued privately a progressively interventionist role regarding international matches played by England and Football League clubs. Embedding its central themes in the wider context of international relations, the war of ideas between the liberal democracies and the dictatorships, and international football, the book also interrogates one of the most shocking moments in British sporting history, when England players gave Nazi salutes in Berlin in 1938, an episode in which virtue signalling was used in support of footballing appeasement. Offering readers an informed historical perspective on some of the modern world’s most significant issues, from the divide between dictatorships and liberal democracies to the use of sport as cultural diplomacy aka cultural propaganda, this book is fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in the history of Britain, sport history, football, international politics, diplomacy or international institutions.

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Page Count

236

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Published Date

ISBN 10

1040103464

ISBN 13

9781040103463

Klop

Britain's Most Ingenious Secret Agent

By: Peter Day

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Klop

Britain's Most Ingenious Secret Agent

By: Peter Day

Klop Ustinov was Britain's most ingenious secret agent, but he wasn't authorised to kill. Instead, he was authorised to tell tall tales, bemusing and beguiling his enemies into revealing their deepest, darkest secrets. From the Russian Revolution to the Cold War, he bluffed and tricked his way into the confidence of everyone from Soviet commissars to Gestapo Gruppenführer. In Klop: Britain's Most Ingenious Secret Agent, journalist Peter Day brings to life a man descended from Russian aristocrats and Ethiopian princesses but who fancied himself the perfect Englishman. His codename was U35 but his better-known nickname 'Klop' meant 'bedbug', a name given to him by a very understanding wife on account of his extraordinary capacity to hop from one woman's bed to another in the service of the King. Frequenting the social gatherings of Europe in the guise of innocent bon viveur, he displayed a showman's talent for entertaining (a trait his son, the actor Peter Ustinov, undoubtedly inherited), holding a captive audience and all the while scavenging secrets from his unsuspecting companions. Klop was masterful at gathering truth by telling a story; this is his.

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Page Count

267

Publisher

Biteback Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1849547645

ISBN 13

9781849547642

History of the German Resistance, 1933-1945

By: Peter Hoffmann

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History of the German Resistance, 1933-1945

By: Peter Hoffmann

The English version of the book has been extensively revised and expanded since its original publication in German. This edition includes a new preface and an updated bibliography.

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Page Count

872

Publisher

McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published Date

ISBN 10

0773566406

ISBN 13

9780773566408

Treasure Hunt

Shipwreck, Diving, and the Quest for Treasure in an Age of Heroes

By: Peter Earle

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Treasure Hunt

Shipwreck, Diving, and the Quest for Treasure in an Age of Heroes

By: Peter Earle

By the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, treasure hunting had become a professional occupation, with a new breed of diver emerging. Much of their time was spent salvaging the wrecks of English and Dutch East-Indiamen carrying treasure to finance business in Asia. Ever since, men have been prepared to risk life and fortune in the search for underwater riches."--BOOK JACKET.

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Page Count

416

Publisher

Macmillan

Published Date

ISBN 10

0312380399

ISBN 13

9780312380397

Hammerhead

By: Peter Nicholson,Wollstonecraft Press

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Hammerhead

By: Peter Nicholson,Wollstonecraft Press

Banking executive David Mapleton is working in his Sydney office when he receives a phone call from wealthy business and newspaperman Charles Reynolds. Charles would like Mapleton to join his covert organisation, The Hammer. Reynolds has grown impatient with the failures of the United Nations and other government agencies, and has assembled a group of people who may be able to bring some justice to what he sees as a corrupt body politic. Mapleton has the necessary financial and educational background required by Reynolds, but is he ready for an unknown and dangerous reality that will cause him to re-evaluate himself, his country and his ideals? The story in this novella is told by David Mapleton, contrasting his deepening involvement in The Hammer's activities with periods of introspection.

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Page Count

114

Publisher

Palmer Higgs Pty Ltd

Published Date

ISBN 10

0987150553

ISBN 13

9780987150554

Dudley Docker

The Life and Times of a Trade Warrior

By: R. P. T. Davenport-Hines,Richard Peter Treadwell Davenport-Hines

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Dudley Docker

The Life and Times of a Trade Warrior

By: R. P. T. Davenport-Hines,Richard Peter Treadwell Davenport-Hines

This is an exploration of the life of Dudley Docker (1862-1944), one of the most powerful businessmen of his era. It sketches the life and times of Docker, describes the deals he fixed and recounts the rise and fall of the companies he directed.

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312

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

052189400X

ISBN 13

9780521894005

Night Flight to Dungavel

Rudolf Hess, Winston Churchill, and the Real Turning Point of WWII

By: Peter Padfield

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Night Flight to Dungavel

Rudolf Hess, Winston Churchill, and the Real Turning Point of WWII

By: Peter Padfield

Until now there has been no satisfactory answer to the question of why, in May of 1941, Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess flew a German fighter plane across the channel to Scotland, crashing at night in a muddy field near Dungavel House. Though Hess had been one of Hitler's closest confidantes he was immediately denounced as a traitor in Berlin. Imprisoned in England, he was questioned by British MI6 and Churchill himself. The documents he had brought with him were confiscated and have not been made public to this day. Hess was tried at Nuremburg at the war's end and imprisoned at Spandau in Berlin, one of only seven former Nazis held there. The other six were all released, but Hess lingered there alone until his death in 1987, possibly by suicide, possibly not. The official report on Hess has always been that he acted alone, but many historians question this conclusion. In Night Flight to Dungavel, award-winning historian Peter Padfield presents striking new evidence that spurs a wholesale reappraisal of the mystery: what actually happened, what role was played by Churchill and British intelligence, and what has been this episode's significance as a real turning point of the war. Expertly woven into a compelling narrative that touches on Nazi sympathizers among the British aristocracy, possible British foreknowledge of the "final solution," and the mysterious circumstances of Hess's death in Spandau prison, Night Flight to Dungavel is among the most important and gripping stories of World War Two.

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Page Count

473

Publisher

ForeEdge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1611685710

ISBN 13

9781611685718

The Bedbug

Klop Ustinov: Britain's Most Ingenious Spy

By: Peter Day

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The Bedbug

Klop Ustinov: Britain's Most Ingenious Spy

By: Peter Day

Klop Ustinov was Britain's most ingenious spy - but he was never licensed to kill. Instead, he was authorised to bemuse and beguile his enemies into revealing their deepest, darkest secrets. From the Russian Revolution to the Cold War, he bluffed and tricked his way into the confidence of everyone from Soviet commissars to Gestapo Gruppenführer. Although his official codename was U35, he was better known as 'Klop', meaning 'Bedbug' - a name given to him by a very understanding wife on account of his extraordinary capacity to hop from one woman's bed to another in the King's service. Frequenting the social gatherings of Europe under the guise of innocent bon viveur, he displayed a showman's talent for entertaining (a trait his son, the actor Peter Ustinov, undoubtedly inherited) and captivated unsuspecting audiences while scavenging their secrets. Using exciting anecdotes and first-hand accounts, Peter Day explores the fascinating life of one of espionage's most inventive and memorable characters. The Bedbug was a master of uncovering the truth through telling tales; now his own tale can be told.

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Page Count

308

Publisher

Biteback Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

184954946X

ISBN 13

9781849549462

Benes & Masaryk

Czechoslovakia

By: Peter Neville

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Benes & Masaryk

Czechoslovakia

By: Peter Neville

Of even greater importance for Hungary's future were the activities of the champions of an independent state of Czechs and Slovaks. Tomáš Masaryk, a Czech professor of philosophy and a future leader of his people, was hard at work within a month of the outbreak of war lobbying in Paris and London for an independent Bohemia, still a major component of the Austrian Empire within the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, which would incorporate the predominantly Slovak regions of northern Hungary. Masaryk, who was assisted in his efforts by Eduard Beneš, a bitter enemy of the Habsburgs. Thus the new state was effectively shaped before the Paris Peace Conference. But the Conference laid down the seeds of Czechoslovakia's later destruction. Only nine million Czechoslovaks lived in the state out of a population of fourteen million. A large discontented Hungarian minority lived in Slovakia, and the Polish majority area of Teschen poisoned Czech-Polish relations. Yet the greatest challenge came from the rise of the Nazis in Germany in 1930s: Masaryk always claimed that he did not want three and half million ethnic Germans, but he and Beneš accepted them nonetheless. Masaryk died in 1937, and Britain and France would not support the Czechs over the Sudetenland, the infamous deal struck in Munich by Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler.

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Page Count

182

Publisher

Haus Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1907822097

ISBN 13

9781907822094

The Authorised History of British Defence Economic Intelligence

A Cold War in Whitehall, 1929-90

By: Peter Davies

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The Authorised History of British Defence Economic Intelligence

A Cold War in Whitehall, 1929-90

By: Peter Davies

This book is the first history of UK economic intelligence and offers a new perspective on the evolution of Britain's national intelligence machinery and how it worked during the Cold War. British economic intelligence has a longer pedigree than the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) and was the vanguard of intelligence coordination in Whitehall, yet it remains a missing field in intelligence studies. This book is the first history of this core government capability and shows how central it was to the post-war evolution of Whitehall's national intelligence machinery. It places special emphasis on the Joint Intelligence Bureau and Defence Intelligence Staff - two vital organisations in the Ministry of Defence underpinning the whole Whitehall intelligence edifice, but almost totally ignored by historians. Intelligence in Whitehall was not conducted in a parallel universe. This contrasts with the conventional wisdom which accepts the uniqueness of intelligence as a government activity and is symbolised by the historical profile of the JIC. The study draws on the official archives to show that the mantra of the existence of a semi-autonomous UK intelligence community cannot be sustained against the historical evidence of government departments using the machinery of government to advance their traditional priorities. Rivalries within and between agencies and departments, and their determination to resist any central encroachment on their authority, emasculated a truly professional multi-skilled capability in Whitehall at the very moment when it was needed to address emerging global economic issues. This book will be of much interest to students of British government and politics, intelligence studies, defence studies, security studies and international relations in general.

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Page Count

404

Publisher

Routledge

Published Date

ISBN 10

1351709526

ISBN 13

9781351709521

Voices from the Great War

By: Peter Vansittart

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Voices from the Great War

By: Peter Vansittart

Bringing together Sigmund Freud, Osip Mandelstam, Lloyd George, Bertrand Russell, Isaac Rosenberg, Siegfried Sassoon, Vera Britain -- voices famous and unknown -- Peter Vansittart takes us through the course of the Great War, juxtaposing letters from the trenches with music-hall songs, and the words of poets and politicians. Linking the public and the personal, the history with the myth, his rich and unorthodox anthology forms a moving image of everything that went into the War, and culminated in its scalding waste of spirit.

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Vintage

Published Date

ISBN 10

1844134156

ISBN 13

9781844134151

Historical Dictionary of British Foreign Policy

By: Peter Neville

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Historical Dictionary of British Foreign Policy

By: Peter Neville

British foreign policy has always been based on distinctive principles since the setting up of the Foreign Office in 1782 as one of the two original offices of state, the other being the Home Office. As a small island nation, Britain was historically fearful of over mighty continental powers, which might seek to menace its trade routes, and naval primacy was essential. Britain must dominate at sea while avoiding, involvement in major continental wars and Britain accomplished this successfully until the end of the 19th century. After World War II and the Cold War Britain was no longer the global naval super power and they had to adapt to a secondary, supportive role. This was to be based on its membership of regional defense and economic organizations in Europe. The Historical Dictionary of British Foreign Policy provides an overview of the conduct of British diplomacy since the setting up of the Foreign Office in 1782. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, an extensive bibliography, and over 300 cross-referenced dictionary entries on British prime ministers, foreign secretaries, foreign office staff and leading diplomats, but also on related military and political-economic aspects. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about British foreign policy.

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Page Count

391

Publisher

Scarecrow Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0810873710

ISBN 13

9780810873711

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