Author:Lord James Douglas-Hamilton
Rudolf Hess's flight to Britain in May 1941 stands out as one of the most intriguing and bizarre episodes of World War II. In this text, Lord James Douglas-Hamilton explodes many of the myths which still surround the affair. He traces the developments which persuaded Hess to undertake his flight without Hitler's knowledge and shows why he chose to approach the Duke of Hamilton. In the process he throws light on the importance of Albrecht Haushofer, one-time envoy to Hitler and Ribbentrop and personal advisor to Hess, who was eventually executed by the S.S. for his involvement in the German Resistance Movement. Drawing on released British War Cabinet papers and the author's access to the Hamilton archives and the Haushofer letters, this book takes the reader to the heart of the Third Reich, combining adventure and intrigue with a scholarly historical approach.
Ferguson adds another layer to our perception of our origins in this compelling and often poignant account of a pagan warrior society faced with Christianity on the march
—— Independent[A] confident and fascinating history of Britain... Masterful... It is a volume that speaks well to our own sense of Britain today as a globalised, trading island retreating back to the edges of power... damned good
—— Tristram Hunt , ObserverThis single-volume history manages to combine a balanced new survey of the past with a rousing declaration of the historian's moral obligations... This is a very good book to have on the shelf
—— Christian Tyler , Financial TimesI thoroughly recommend the book, written by a collection of top-hole experts in their field... Excellent
—— A. N. Wilson[A World By Itself] tells how a small group of islands on the rain-swept edge of the Roman Empire came to shape the civilised world, effectively inventing parliamentary democracy, industrialisation, free trade and globalisation, as well as bequeathing to posterity the greatest body of literature on earth
—— Dominic Sandbrook , Daily TelegraphA massive work of scholarship
—— GuardianCompelling
—— ScotsmanImpressive
—— History TodayA Royal Affair is an entertaining tale ...Tillyard's account of the brothers is heroic...[she] tells this astonishing tale with bravura
—— John de Falbe , Daily TelegraphShe has returned to what she knows-and does-best, teasing out the bonds of love, hate and pretend indifference that bind siblings, no matter what their historical pedigree, into a cat's cradle of consequence
—— EconomistThe story is brilliantly told. In its descriptive flourishes it is sometimes fearlessly novelistic, yet it travels long distances for scholarly scruples
—— John Mullan , Times Literary Supplement