Nevile Henderson (1882–1942)

Doubling as an apologia and as two-pronged propaganda, "Failure of a mission," is about failure. But, for English consumption, because of Henderson (and Chamberlain), we've delayed the war, and now we are more prepared and more aware of the duplicity of Hitler. So hail Britannia! But, for German consumption, Hitler can be rational, but the crazed extreme Goebbels and the crazed stupid Anglo-hating Ribbentrop have too much of the ear of Hitler, while good Nazis like Goering and Neurath would be better advisers. And the German people really don't want the war. We can still be friends if Germany returns to pre-Poland borders (and still keep Danzig).
Poorly written paragraph by paragraph, yet well organized and logical as a whole, "Failure" rings truthy, if still pathetic. This book is valuable as a primary document of the mindset of pre-war / early war England.… (mer)

This is a self-serving work that shows Henderson's complete misreading of history. He published this book in 1940, before the blitz and before Germany conquered Western Europe, and there is not one iota of awareness as to these possibilities. Henderson uses the book to justify his appreciation of certain aspects of Nazism, and clearly feels affection for the German people (as opposed to the Nazi regime). Yet he describes a series of diplomatic failures culminating in Munich, and then wonders why Hitler would not play the game fairly, like Henderson's British colleagues. He is absolutely blind to what Hitler always had in mind and described in Mein Kampf. Watching him in regard to his Nazi opponents is like watching a college football team take on an NFL franchise: the British, and French, were completely out of their league.… (mer)