Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War

Appeasing Hitler

This thrilling Sunday Times bestseller is the first major account of the disastrous years of British indecision and infighting that enabled Hitler’s domination of Europe

** SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ** 
'Astonishing' ANTONY BEEVOR 
 'One of the most promising young historians to enter our field for years' MAX HASTINGS 
 
 
A thrilling new history of the disastrous years of indecision, failed diplomacy and parliamentary infighting that enabled Hitler and the Nazis to dominate Europe. 
 
On a wet afternoon in September 1938, Neville Chamberlain stepped off an aeroplane and announced that his visit to Hitler had averted the greatest crisis in recent memory. It was, he later assured the crowd in Downing Street, 'peace for our time'. Less than a year later, Germany invaded Poland and the Second World War began. 
 
 Drawing on previously unseen sources, Appeasing Hitler sweeps from the advent of Hitler in 1933 to the beaches of Dunkirk, and presents an unforgettable portrait of the ministers, aristocrats and amateur diplomats whose actions and inaction had devastating consequences. 
 
 'Brilliant and sparkling . . . Reads like a thriller. I couldn't put it down' Peter Frankopan 
 
 'Vivid, detailed and utterly fascinating . . . This is political drama at its most compelling' James Holland 
 
 'Bouverie skilfully traces each shameful step to war . . . in moving and dramatic detail' Sunday Telegraph

Appeasing Hitler is an astonishingly accomplished debut. Bouverie writes with a wonderful clarity and we will no doubt hear a lot more of his voice in future

A brilliant and sparkling debut by an outstanding young historian. Tim Bouverie has written an account of the build-up to the Second World War that reads like a thriller. I couldn’t put it down.

This is the debut of an unusually talented writer, one of the most promising young historians to enter our field for years

Every so often I've been escaping to the corner of my garden and losing myself in Tim Bouverie's brilliant Appeasing Hitler. It's a compelling read that combines detailed research with a flair for narrative

Drawing on an impressive and interesting range of sources and characters, Tim Bouverie has written a fascinating and scholarly portrait of a decade when credulity, self-interest and poor judgement prevailed tragically and inexorably over morality and good sense: this is the reporting of history at its best

Appeasing Hitler is the stunning debut of a major new narrative historian. A riveting and depressing story which has resonance today as the democracies again face dictatorships

In meticulous detail and with moments of novelty and insight… [Appeasing Hitler] should become a standard text on this inglorious episode… an exceptionally promising debut. He has great narrative abilities and his research has been extensive

Sparkling and witty... The best account of the subject that I have ever read

This gripping book is…valuable because it illuminates some eternal truths

Tim Bouverie tells the story of appeasement with skill, verve and panache, using contemporary accounts to great effect in exploring the mentalities that lay behind the political decisions

With enormous flair and confidence, Tim Bouverie has brought his subject to life, elegantly drawing out the historical parallels while also presenting a gripping and well-paced narrative. Lively, nuanced, and full of surprising details, this is a stunning debut

With tremendous narrative flair and impeccable judgement, Bouverie illuminates the wishful thinking, the gullibility and the appalling amateurishness that led us to the precipice

An eye-opening narrative which makes for exciting but at times uncomfortable reading as one reflects on possible lessons for the present

Truly impressive and enjoyable. Tim Bouverie writes with verve and wit, gives us an often moving and always human angle on the story, and removes the tarnish from the word ‘appeasement’ to make us look anew at one of the most important, and salutary, periods of modern times

No previous book on Appeasement has managed to cast such a vivid, detailed and utterly fascinating light on the incredible political machinations that were being played out in the late 1930s. Tim Bouverie has brilliantly brought alive the tension, political brinkmanship and immense drama of those days... This is political drama at its most compelling, and one whose relevance sits with the reader long after the book has been put down. Superb.

Tim Bouverie breathes new life into this familiar story. His vivid narrative is compelling, even exciting, as it hurtles towards its tragic conclusion. This is a superb book that deserves to be widely read

Vivid, engaging... pacy, personality driven

Bouverie… retells [the story of appeasement] with gusto

Bouverie gives a lucid account… [and] skilfully traces each shameful step to war… which he describes in moving and dramatic detail

Gripping.. Bouverie has written a searching, wide-ranging, and above all readable chronology of a shameful era of British history… a very cautionary tale

[An] impressive and very readable account

Tim Bouverie’s first historical work… is a well-argued, lucid case for the prosecution of the appeasers

So assured is Bouverie’s writing, and so sound his judgments, that it is hard to believe that Appeasing Hitler is his first book. It is a wonderful debut that marks the arrival of a young historian to watch

Bouverie’s well-written Appeasing Hitler aims to provide a timeless lesson on the challenges of standing up to aggression.

Bouverie has mined an impressive range of sources and quotes from them judiciously. His narrative is lucid, his prose efficient, his put-downs witty… [he] tells an important story well.

The skill with which Tim Bouverie navigates here through the worlds of politics, officialdom and diplomacy is quite exemplary… his explanations of complex issues are always lucid; his narrative style is thoughtful, unshowy and always a pleasure to read… This is, quite simply, the best book ever to have appeared on this whole subject

Bouverie’s Appeasing Hitler provides a meticulous picture of a Britain that faced very different problems from our own

Scrupulously fair, [and a] readable account… [an] excellent book

Appeasing Hitler…is a staggeringly good account of the build-up to the Second World War… gripping, dramatic and revelatory

Bouverie’s prose is fluent and assured throughout. Those in search of an entertaining read will find one… an admirable retelling of traditional history

An enthralling, nuanced tale… the narrative is absolutely compelling

An elegantly written account by a rising young historian

This is a gripping account of the wishful thinking that led us to the precipice

There is a sure command of narrative and judgment in faultlessly lucid prose, with subtexts of pathos

A fascinating narrative on the politics of wishful thinking and the law of unintended consequences in international relations

[A] finely researched and well-argued book

Tim Bouverie is the author of the Sunday Times bestsellers Allies at War: The Rivals Who Defeated Hitler, winner of the 2026 Duff Cooper Prize and Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War, shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. He studied history at Christ Church, Oxford and was the 2020-21 Alistair Horne Fellow at St Antony’s College, Oxford.

** Sunday Times Bestseller ** 
'Astonishing' ANTONY BEEVOR 
 'One of the most promising young historians to enter our field for years' MAX HASTINGS 
 
On a wet afternoon in September 1938, Neville Chamberlain stepped off an aeroplane and announced that his visit to Hitler had averted the greatest crisis in recent memory. It was, he later assured the crowd in Downing Street, 'peace for our time'. Less than a year later, Germany invaded Poland and the Second World War began. 
 
This is a vital new history of the disastrous years of indecision, failed diplomacy and parliamentary infighting that enabled Nazi domination of Europe. Drawing on previously unseen sources, it sweeps from the advent of Hitler in 1933 to the beaches of Dunkirk, and presents an unforgettable portrait of the ministers, aristocrats and amateur diplomats whose actions and inaction had devastating consequences. 
 
'Brilliant and sparkling . . . Reads like a thriller. I couldn't put it down' Peter Frankopan 
 
'Vivid, detailed and utterly fascinating . . . This is political drama at its most compelling' James Holland 
 
'Bouverie skilfully traces each shameful step to war . . . in moving and dramatic detail' Sunday Telegraph 
 
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL BOOK WRITING 2020

Tim Bouverie

A masterful diplomatic history of the second world war… packed with fresh detail and gossipy anecdotes

Can anything new be said about the Second World War? Unexpectedly the answer is yes … [Allies at War] provides new perspectives on subjects that seemed familiar … Bouverie’s first book, Appeasing Hitler … was a dazzling debut. Allies at War fully confirms the promise shown by its predecessor

Impeccably researched, elegantly written and compellingly argued

A new star is born. The British firmament of modern political and military history is already a glittering one, but established names must now make way for a new companion, Tim Bouverie. His first book, Appeasing Hitler, was a deserved success. His second, Allies at War, proves that his debut was no flash in the pan … [A] powerful and well-researched book

A major work of original history that is a pleasure to read ... This is a compelling and highly readable book that provides a mass of new and fascinating detail about the Allies in the Second World War. Tim Bouverie has produced a masterpiece

Ambitiously all-encompassing … agreeably witty ... with vivid pen portraits … [an] extremely timely book

[A] terrific new book … Bouverie is a historian with an exceptional command of his subject, and there is much to learn from his book

Bouverie … delivers a brilliant blow-by-blow account of the twists and turns of high-stakes diplomacy that were every bit as vital as the battles fought and won in the field when it came to victory. This is a landmark history book filled with fabulous facts that reads like a thriller

[A] meticulous, scholarly and highly enjoyable history of the second world war

A sweeping, fast-paced narrative of one of the great turning points of the 20th century. Deeply researched yet highly readable

David Reynolds, author of Mirrors of Greatness

A grand sweep of history - a brilliant narrative

This is an astonishing piece of scholarship and one that could not be more timely. Compellingly told, immensely wide-ranging and utterly fascinating, Allies at War brilliantly and perceptively tells the incredibly complex relationship of the Allies and coalition nations that led to victory in 1945 but ultimately to the start of a new global rivalry still being felt to this day. Superb

Allies at War cements Tim Bouverie's reputation as one of the most talented young historians we have. Magisterial in scope, shrewd in its judgements, well-written and often amusing, Allies at War is the best book I have ever read about the politics of the Second World War. It is a book I wish I had written

Excellent. Extremely well-researched, wide-ranging and absorbing

Tim Bouverie has an uncanny ability to dive deeper than most into the swirling currents of history ... He reveals the insecurities, self-deceptions and tangled lies that were part of the Allied cause, alongside the personal dramas and extraordinary courage of its three great leaders. This is the story of a war of wills – it is magnificent!

There is so much that is new in this compelling and fluently crafted story. The extent of Tim Bouverie’s original research is extraordinary and allows him to take the reader into the most intriguing and little known corners of the world at war

A brilliant book that shows how an imperfect alliance of resistance was the only reason Hitler and his associates did not win World War II. Essential reading for understanding the history of the past century, with significant implications for our own times

OA Westad, Elihu Professor of History and Global Affairs, Yale University

Sweeping in scope and expertly crafted, Bouverie delivers a grand contribution to a titanic subject

Catherine Katz, author of The Daughters of Yalta

Tim Bouverie has done a remarkable thing: he has found a novel and illuminating way to tell the story of World War II, and in so doing has given us an important and timely study of the centrality and the complexity of alliances. This is a terrific book

Jon Meacham, author of And There Was Light

In Allies at War, Tim Bouverie fully lives up to the dazzling reputation he won with Appeasing Hitler. Again, he combines depth of research shrewdness of judgement and lightness of touch. The result is an absorbing read as well as a major work of history, illuminating the drama and complexity of modern history's greatest and yet most troubled alliance

Robert Tombs, author of The Sovereign Isle

Tim Bouverie made a name for himself as a rising star of history with his accomplished first book, Appeasing Hitler. His new book is equally fascinating. I’ve been reading Allies at War while President Trump has been trashing long-standing relationships. The book, full of vignettes and fascinating nuggets, is a good reminder of how hard it was to build an alliance against Hitler

Robbie Millen, Literary Editor, The Times & Sunday Times

Bouverie’s focus on diplomatic history is to be applauded, as is his achievement in creating a fast-paced narrative that offers firm judgements yet gives readers leeway to draw their own conclusions

Exceedingly well-written and wide-ranging… a tour de force of thick description, infinite anecdotes and clearsighted analysis

Enthralling and authoritative ... deeply researched and gracefully written

[Allies at War is] full of fascinating nuggets, character sketches and peppery judgments

An unusually talented writer, one of the most promising young historians to enter our field for years

Max Hastings, British journalist and military historian

A brilliant and sparkling debut by an outstanding young historian … An account of the build up to the Second World War that reads like a thriller. I couldn’t put it down

Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads

A fascinating and scholarly portrait … this is the reporting of history at its best

Caroline Moorehead, human rights journalist

Quite simply, the best book to have appeared on this whole subject

Appeasing Hitler is the stunning debut of a major new narrative historian. A riveting and depressing story which has resonance today as the democracies again face dictatorships

Tim Bouverie tells the story of appeasement with skill, verve and panache, using contemporary accounts to great effect in exploring the mentalities that lay behind the political decisions

[A] masterful new diplomatic history of the war

Tim Bouverie has clearly done his research, though he doesn’t let this overwhelm his narrative, which is consistently lucid, entertaining and witty

[A] splendid history of the World War II alliance … One of the many virtues of this insightful book is how it demonstrates the complexity of wartime diplomacy among the ‘Big Three’

[A] work of extraordinary power and scholarship… history at its finest… It should be essential reading in No 10 and, above all, the White House

The Rivals Who Defeated Hitler

The Sunday Times bestselling landmark history of the alliance that won the war and made the peace from the author of the acclaimed Appeasing Hitler 
 
After the fall of France in June 1940, only Britain stood between Hitler and total victory. Desperate for allies, Winston Churchill did everything he could to bring the United States into the conflict, drive the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany apart and persuade neutral countries to resist German domination. 
 
By 1942, after the German invasion of Russia and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the British-Soviet-American alliance was in place. Yet it was an improbable and incongruous coalition, divided by ideology and politics and riven with mistrust and deceit. Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin were partners in the fight to defeat Hitler, yet they were also rivals who disagreed on strategy, imperialism and the future of liberated Europe. 
 
Allies at War is a fast-paced, narrative history, based on material drawn from over a hundred archives. Using vivid, first-hand accounts and unpublished diaries, we enter the rooms where the critical decisions were made, revealing the political drama behind the military events. 
Ambitious and compelling, Allies at War offers a fresh perspective on the Second World War and the origins of the Cold War.

Tim Bouverie

Praise for Allies at War

A masterful diplomatic history of the second world war… packed with fresh detail and gossipy anecdotes

Can anything new be said about the Second World War? Unexpectedly the answer is yes … [Allies at War] provides new perspectives on subjects that seemed familiar … Bouverie’s first book, Appeasing Hi ...

Impeccably researched, elegantly written and compellingly argued

A masterful diplomatic history of the second world war… packed with fresh detail and gossipy anecdotes

Can anything new be said about the Second World War? Unexpectedly the answer is yes … [Allies at War] provides new perspectives on subjects that seemed familiar … Bouverie’s first book, Appeasing Hi ...

Impeccably researched, elegantly written and compellingly argued

A masterful diplomatic history of the second world war… packed with fresh detail and gossipy anecdotes

Can anything new be said about the Second World War? Unexpectedly the answer is yes … [Allies at War] provides new perspectives on subjects that seemed familiar … Bouverie’s first book, Appeasing Hi ...

Impeccably researched, elegantly written and compellingly argued

Books by Tim Bouverie

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