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Overview
"A clear-sighted leader with the twin convictions of the awfulness of war and of the inability of Britain to wage it successfully in 1938? Or the dupe of Hitler, clinging credulously to hopes for peace long after such hopes were dashed by Nazi actions? In the popular estimation, and in the opinion of some modern scholarship, Chamberlain is still linked indissolubly to the last proposition." "Yet had he died in 1937 rather than 1940, he would be remembered for the many reforms he engineered as Minister of Health and for his well-managed and prudent policies as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the wake of the Great Depression. As it turned out, his reputation hangs mainly on assessment of his actions in foreign policy during his three years as Prime Minister. What Dutton shows us with great skill is how the different elements of reputation have come together, and how (if at all) they have been influenced by the evidence, how by the time, manner, or purpose of composition. The Chamberlain we think we know is revealed as a complex amalgam of the historical figure and the constellation of opinions that have wrapped themselves around his motives and actions in the quest for 'Peace for our time'. Whether Chamberlain was 'right to be wrong' or simply wrong, this investigation into the very building blocks of history gives us a new appreciation of one of the most conspicuous political figures of the twentieth century."--BOOK JACKET.Synopsis
Less concerned with Chamberlain himself than with the development of assessments of Chamberlain's career, Dutton (history, U. of Liverpool, UK) explores how the former British Prime Minister was viewed by his contemporaries among the elites and the press and how his reputation changed over time in the hands of historians and others. Dutton avoids drawing strong conclusions himself about the man who many revile as an appeaser of Hitler, preferring to explore what the waxing and waning of Chamberlain's reputation has to say about the influence of evidence, politics, and temporal context. Annotation c. Book News, Inc.,Portland, OR
Editorials
From the Publisher
"Dutton shows a remarkable command of the historiographical thickets, and leads the reader through its labyrinths lucidly and with commendable dry wit."—Times Literary Supplement "The clarity of Dutton's prose, his adept use of the primary sources, and his command of the secondary literature will impress every reader. Indeed the book is an exemplary historiographical analysis. Dutton's study of Neville Chamberlain and his political career should be made compulsory reading for history undergraduates."—The International History Review