Yes, it was a vehicle for appeasement, but that basic stance gave the foursome credibility in their work with and against the Nazis. Grahame Christie, Ernest Tennant, and Philip Conwell-Evans were the founders of the Fellowship and are the chief focus of this story. Philip Kerr Lord Lothian was Connell-Evans first political recruit. As Lloyd George’s secretary at the Versailles peace conference in 1918, Lothian had drafted the notorious “war guilt”clause, holding Germany responsible for the outbreak of hostilities, yet he never lost his conviction that the French had been needlessly harsh on the vanquished Germans. He was far from the stereotype of the declining aristocratic reactionary, being firmly on the political left, and made a wonderful ambassador to the United States in later years. As Hitler moved closer and closer to open hostility, these four men realized that the price the Nazis wanted was too high. To different degrees, they turned their considerable talents to support first Chamberlain and then Churchill to avoid conflict. Unfortunately, history remembers the appeasement, not the turn-around. The maiden effort by historian Spicer (based on his eight years of dissertation research) corrects long-standing misinterpretations of the work of the Anglo-German Fellowship: an interwar diplomacy program in which amateur British intelligence agents socialized with and befriended leading political figures of Nazi Germany, as part of an attempt to influence and "enlighten" Nazi officials and head off a war. The British leaders of the fellowship—which had its heyday from 1934 to 1938, shut down in 1939, and disbanded in 1949—have often been described as Nazi appeasers, but Spicer argues that most weren't interested in appeasement. Instead, they saw their mission as civilizing, building on centuries-old ties between Germany and Britain, and promoting amity, trade, and prosperity. The spokesmen of the Anglo-German Fellowship were a left-wing Welsh historian, a butterfly-collecting businessman, and a World War I air ace. And yes, they drank coffee with Hitler. They also attended Nazi rallies, but they spoke against persecution of Jewish people. When it became obvious to Britain that peace with Hitler was a lost cause, members of the fellowship—at great personal risk—began sussing out German military secrets and connecting with dissenters inside Germany. VERDICT The escalation of Nazi violence, Edward VIII's unexpected abdication, an unprepared Britain, and a government ignoring the danger signs of war all make for a heady brew and an exciting read. Will be easy for history lovers to enjoy. —David Keymer Library Journal

This compelling book captures the double-edged nature of 'one mainstay of British values'– giving 'even the most blatantly disgusting people the benefit of the doubt.'" The Week(UK) In this very well-researched and well-written work of historical revisionism, Charles Spicer reminds us of the important fact that not every Briton who wanted better relations with Nazi Germany did so from malign motives. Some were Germanophile, myopic, naïve, and amateur, but essentially well meaning. Understandably, they were incapable of believing—until it was almost too late—that Adolf Hitler was as evil as we, with our total historical hindsight, know him to have been.”

As the result of multiple restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles after World War I, Germany’s economy suffered during the 1920s and ’30s, creating resentment among German citizens and fertile ground for the rise of Nazism. Well aware of the vast toll another war would wreak upon society, three perceptive Englishmen—Ernest Tennant, Philip Conwell-Evans and Grahame Christie—sought to avert another world war through the formation of the exclusive Anglo-German Fellowship (AGF) and its German sister organization, the Deutsch-Englische Gesellschaft (DEG). AGF’s intent was to develop civilized friendships and political and economic connections with German leaders, including Nazi Party members such as Hermann Göring, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Rudolf Hess and even Adolf Hitler. In this refreshingly objective book, Charles Spicer looks at the Anglo-German Fellowship, a group founded by British Germanophiles in 1935 to further good relations between the two countries. Many Britons, especially those who had fought in the Great War or had been bereaved during it, remained hostile to the Germans, while people on the Left (and indeed some on the Right) of British politics disliked the Third Reich for its fascism and racism. Their continued presence at these events gave Himmler and Ribbentrop a reassuring picture of the potential opposition If ever there was a case of the road to hell being paved with good intentions, it is surely the story that Charles Spicer tells so brilliantly and empathetically in this exceptionally well-written book. The Anglo-German Fellowship was established in Britain in the early 1930s by a group of well-connected and influential men, in the belief that Nazi Germany should not be appeased, but that it could be civilized. With the outbreak of war, the Fellowship became increasingly irrelevant, and was eventually disbanded. Posterity has not been kind to the Fellowship, at best ignoring it, at worst deriding its members as Nazi collaborators. This book seeks to rescue the Fellowship from such oblivion and opprobrium, and it does so challengingly and convincingly. David Cannadine

Hosted by Selwyn College's Vice Master, Janet O'Sullivan, Dr Charles Spicer will be discussing his new history book 'Coffee with Hitler'. I think the book's subtitle (The Untold Story of the Amateur Spies Who Tried to Civilize the Nazis) is misleading and aimed at hyping sales. The people featured by Dr. Spicer are not "spies" in the James Bond sense of the word. They are, in the main, sincere Englishmen who used meetings with political and social figures from the Reich in attempts to further good relations between the two countries. Also, the statement they were trying to "civilize" the Nazis is the definition of a fool's errand. And, they weren't all fools. Of course, after the war broke out, any past association with the Nazi leaders was viewed with great suspicion, and after the war the former members of the AGF tended to keep very quiet about their pre-war activities. The author argues though, that the trio he features were guilty of nothing more than well-intentioned naivety, and that Germanophilia and a desire for Anglo-German amity should not be conflated with being pro-Nazi. How might the British have handled Hitler differently?” remains one of history’s greatest "what ifs." Coffee with Hitler tells the astounding story of how a handful of amateur British intelligence agents wined, dined, and befriended the leading National Socialists between the wars. With support from royalty, aristocracy, politicians, and businessmen, they hoped to use the recently founded Anglo-German Fellowship as a vehicle to civilize and enlighten the Nazis.As a result, a number of Hitler’s provocative acts, notably his intentions towards the Sudetenland and Czechoslovakia, were known to Vansittart and the government in London long before they were executed – either because civilised Germans had warned AGF members about what was going on, or loudmouths such as Ribbentrop or Hermann Goering (the latter being the closest the AGF considered the Nazis had to a gent) had boasted about them. The trouble was that the government regarded Vansittart as a troublemaker and chose not to believe him. Drawing on newly discovered primary sources, Charles Spencer sheds light on the early career of Kim Philby, Winston Churchill's approach to appeasement, the US entry into the war and the Rudolf Hess affair, in a groundbreaking reassessment of Britain's relationship with Nazi Germany. Drawing on newly discovered primary sources, Charles Spencer sheds light on the early career of Kim Philby, Winston Churchill’s approach to appeasement, the US entry into the war and the Rudolf Hess affair, in a groundbreaking reassessment of Britain's relationship with Nazi Germany. Highly recommended for WW2 buffs, an inside story of Brits' efforts to "civilise" the Nazis (they failed). After 8 years' research Spicer has come up with probably the definitive history of the Anglo-German Fellowship that was at the center of well-intentioned efforts to work with the Nazi leadership. He concludes that other studies notwithstanding the "appeasers" had reason for hope, and were not primarily Nazi sympathizers. Coffee with Hitler tells the astounding true story of a handful of amateur British intelligence agents who wined, dined and befriended the leading National Socialists between the wars. With support from royalty, aristocracy, politicians and businessmen, they hoped to use the much mythologised Anglo-German Fellowship as a vehicle to civilise the Nazis. A pacifist Welsh historian, a Great War flying ace, a butterfly-collecting businessman... Coffee With Hitler offers a rare glimpse into a motley crew who would provide the British government with better intelligence on the horrifying rise of the Nazis than anyone else.

Conwell-Evans provided assessments of the Nazi government to all four British PMs who held office in Hitler’s dozen years of power. He had penetrated the upper ranks of National Socialism, right up to the Führer himself, more deeply than any other Britain. Though closest to Ribbentrop, the foreign minister, he was also well connected with Hitler’s two deputies, Göring and Hess. At the same time he was ingratiating himself with the senior Nazis, Conwell-Evans was befriending the cabal of civil servants within the German foreign ministry, whose sustained effort to remove Hitler from office came closest to success. An insider’s account of the rampant misconduct within the Trump administration, including the tumult surrounding the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021. A book that looks at a little known aspect of the run-up to WW2, about the activities of the Anglo-German Fellowship, an organisation that sought to promote good relations between Nazi Germany and the UK. It’s a pretty interesting account. I listened to the audiobook version narrated by Simon Vance.Spicer describes his intentions in writing Coffee With Hitler as being explicitly about those who sought to “civilise” rather than “appease” the Nazis. The book works well as a companion to Tim Bouverie’s fine Appeasing Hitler, focusing less on the well-known events and figures of the era and more on the gentlemanly amateur diplomats of the day. Both appeasers and civilisers overrated their own abilities and underestimated the evils to which they – largely unwittingly – played handmaiden. This engaging book offers a warning from history that remains terrifyingly relevant today. Spicer’s research is based on his recent doctorate, examined by leading historians including David Cannadine, Julie Gottlieb and Richard Overy. Commenting on the book, he said: "I am thrilled to be working with Sam and Oneworld on this book that challenges conventional interpretations of appeasement and the motives of those who took coffee with Hitler." In Coffee With Hitler Spicer depicts the efforts of Tennant, Conwell-Evans and Christie to form an effective alliance with key German leaders, despite ever-increasing evidence of Nazi treachery and a British government firmly entrenched in an appeasement mindset. Spicer also describes how AGF connections quietly gathered valuable intelligence from Germany’s resistance leaders before World War II, carefully noting the AGF was not a pro-Nazi group, but rather a well-meaning, pro-Germany organization. In addition, Spicer reveals the eventual deterioration of the Anglo-German relationship and how Nazi leaders’ ambitions and obsession with Lebensraum (“living space”) led to the inevitable outbreak of war. A lively study of the “amateur British intelligence agents who…hoped to avert a second war in Europe by building rapport with the Third Reich politically, economically and socially.” Perhaps the peak of British-German positive relations under this “amateur diplomacy” came in September 1936 when Philip Conwell-Evans accompanied David Lloyd George, a former PM much admired by Hitler, on a trip to Berchtesgaden. There Hitler discussed with Lloyd George his well-known Faustian pact; in return for his recognizing the vital interests of the British Empire, England should accept German hegemony on the continent, which was necessary for her to maintain a “proper standard of life for her people.” As with earlier British visitors, Hitler fixated on the “disintegrating force” of Bolshevist ideology which threatened the existence of the nations states of Europe, comparable to the Muhammadan invasion. Every time Russia had been mentioned Lloyd George later told another associate, Hitler’s “lips began to twitch convulsively,”and soon he would be “shouting again, all but foaming at the mouth.”

In this terrific debut, historian Charles Spicer genuinely enriches and deepens our understanding of the Thirties – the all-important decade in which the great and the good of these islands, scarred to the depths of their souls by the Great War, struggled to avoid a second global conflict." An essential account of a chaotic administration that, Woodward makes painfully clear, is incapable of governing. That thing in the air that is deadlier than even your “strenuous flus”? Trump knew—and did nothing about it. How the British might have handled Hitler differently remains one of history's greatest ';what ifs'... In 1939, Chamberlain appointed Lord Lothian as Ambassador to the U.S. where the latter - now passionately pro-war - did much to build public understanding that Britain would stay the course. He helped persuade the reluctant United States into the conflict and served as a sharp contrast to America’s Ambassador Kennedy in London.The fascinating story of how an eccentric group of intelligence agents used amateur diplomacy to penetrate the Nazi high command in an effort to prevent the start of World War II How the British might have handled Hitler differently remains one of history's greatest 'what ifs'... Charles Spicer's meticulously researched, fresh-thinking, calm, and empathetic book dispels the smog of misunderstanding that has enabled members of the Fellowship as 'Nazi-friendly.' Spicer, who has given close, neutral, and unerring scrutiny of the sources, proves to be a brisk, fair-minded, and authoritative revisionist." Times Literary Supplement(UK) Richard Davenport-Hines Coffeewith Hitlertellsthe astounding story of how a handful of amateur Britishintelligence agents wined, dined, and befriendedthe leading NationalSocialists between the wars. With support from royalty, aristocracy,politicians, and businessmen, they hoped to use the recently foundedAnglo-German Fellowship as a vehicle to civilize and enlighten the Nazis.