- Paperback: 160 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New edition edition (27 Aug 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0141180986
- ISBN-13: 978-0141180984
- Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.8 x 1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,245,062 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Guilty Men
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Product Description
Product Description
Writing as "Cato", Michael Foot, Frank Owen and Peter Howard produced the first account of "appeasement". Now republished with a new preface by Michael Foot and introduction by John Stevenson, "Guilty Men" conveys the panic and horror of Britain suddenly alone in Nazi Europe.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I purchased this book some time ago, while I was doing A Level History. Our job was to examine the Orthodox, Revisionist and Counter-Revisionist views in regards to Appeasement.
This piece of work is high on the Orthodox agenda, alongside other works such as The Gathering Storm, which came out in 1948. This book was first published in 1940 and has been published countless times since.
The version I received was printed in 1942 by Victor Gollancz Ltd, and it still has that 1940's book scent attached to it. The book I received had some pencil marks and creases on the cover, on the spine of the book, and on a few pages. The seller left me a very kind note as well, but for a book published in 1942 was in quite good condition.
Some people have claimed that Cato was a book produced by Left wing fanatics. This simply isn't the case. Winston Churchill receives a fair amount of praise in the book, and one of Cato's authors was a long standing Conservative, Peter Howard.
The book is very reactionary and doesn't contain sources or documentary evidence. However, one thing it does hold, is that the views expressed in this book represented a large portion of public opinion.
Nothing is mentioned of the Soviet Union's invasion of Poland in 1939 either. That is probably why the book always receiver's the "Left wing" tag.
As a historical source, all this book represents is the views of a significant number of people at that time. Nothing factual however.
I gave it 4 star's because this book helped me out a lot on in my A-Level History course and if anybody needs to find out about public opinion at that time, then this book is one to read. But overall, the "facts" in this book simply don't stand up to today's Historical scrutiny (The only two historical views on appeasement that have any documentary evidence are the Revisionist and Counter-Revisionist view, and not the Orthodox view because it is a mere reaction)
This piece of work is high on the Orthodox agenda, alongside other works such as The Gathering Storm, which came out in 1948. This book was first published in 1940 and has been published countless times since.
The version I received was printed in 1942 by Victor Gollancz Ltd, and it still has that 1940's book scent attached to it. The book I received had some pencil marks and creases on the cover, on the spine of the book, and on a few pages. The seller left me a very kind note as well, but for a book published in 1942 was in quite good condition.
Some people have claimed that Cato was a book produced by Left wing fanatics. This simply isn't the case. Winston Churchill receives a fair amount of praise in the book, and one of Cato's authors was a long standing Conservative, Peter Howard.
The book is very reactionary and doesn't contain sources or documentary evidence. However, one thing it does hold, is that the views expressed in this book represented a large portion of public opinion.
Nothing is mentioned of the Soviet Union's invasion of Poland in 1939 either. That is probably why the book always receiver's the "Left wing" tag.
As a historical source, all this book represents is the views of a significant number of people at that time. Nothing factual however.
I gave it 4 star's because this book helped me out a lot on in my A-Level History course and if anybody needs to find out about public opinion at that time, then this book is one to read. But overall, the "facts" in this book simply don't stand up to today's Historical scrutiny (The only two historical views on appeasement that have any documentary evidence are the Revisionist and Counter-Revisionist view, and not the Orthodox view because it is a mere reaction)
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a classic - a book which is part of history and contributed to and made history. I am writing this review in response to the ridiculous, dismissive and inaccurate review which gave it one star.
For a start, this book is written by Michael Foot, Frank Owen, former Liberal MP and Peter Howard, Crossbencher at the Sunday Express and a previous captain of the English rugby team. This group of people are not a group of narrow, dogmatic leftist fellow-travellers in the pay of some foreign ideology as the terrible review insinuates. Instead all three were united by working for Lord Beaverbrook, an arch Tory, who because he prevented his journalists writing for other papers and outlets, had to invent the name 'Cato'.
This book was written at the point of France collapsing and the Dunkirk miracle and came out in the early days of the Churchill Government. It was written and reads as a polemic, tapping into the popular rage which was widespread about the failed Tory politicians who had appeased Hitler and Mussolini.
Guilty Men charged the foreign policies of all of the UK Governments of the 1930s with letting this country's defences down: Ramsay MacDonald's Tory dominated administration, Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain, and of not preparing this nation to stand up to fascist aggression. This is undoubtably true: Japanese aggression in China, the German and Italian intervention in the Spanish Civil War against the democratically elected centre-left government, Mussolini's invasion of Abyssinia, topped by Chamberlain's craven and inept carving up of the democratic state of Czechoslovakia and handing on a plate to Hitler, should shame all of us to this day.
It is true that this book understandably simplifies. It wasnt just Tories who appeased Hitler and the dictators: George Lansbury and David Lloyd George spectacularly got Hitler wrong. Yet, all these years on: Guilty Men broadly got it right: British Governments of the 1930s were Tory and they let Hitler and Mussolini march all over the continent before they decided to make a stand.
This book is a part of British history, articulating the popular imagination about Tory appeasement, and playing a part in the creation of collective opinion which led to 1945 and the election of a Labour Government. Truly an important, fascinating, riveting, pulsating read.
For a start, this book is written by Michael Foot, Frank Owen, former Liberal MP and Peter Howard, Crossbencher at the Sunday Express and a previous captain of the English rugby team. This group of people are not a group of narrow, dogmatic leftist fellow-travellers in the pay of some foreign ideology as the terrible review insinuates. Instead all three were united by working for Lord Beaverbrook, an arch Tory, who because he prevented his journalists writing for other papers and outlets, had to invent the name 'Cato'.
This book was written at the point of France collapsing and the Dunkirk miracle and came out in the early days of the Churchill Government. It was written and reads as a polemic, tapping into the popular rage which was widespread about the failed Tory politicians who had appeased Hitler and Mussolini.
Guilty Men charged the foreign policies of all of the UK Governments of the 1930s with letting this country's defences down: Ramsay MacDonald's Tory dominated administration, Stanley Baldwin and Neville Chamberlain, and of not preparing this nation to stand up to fascist aggression. This is undoubtably true: Japanese aggression in China, the German and Italian intervention in the Spanish Civil War against the democratically elected centre-left government, Mussolini's invasion of Abyssinia, topped by Chamberlain's craven and inept carving up of the democratic state of Czechoslovakia and handing on a plate to Hitler, should shame all of us to this day.
It is true that this book understandably simplifies. It wasnt just Tories who appeased Hitler and the dictators: George Lansbury and David Lloyd George spectacularly got Hitler wrong. Yet, all these years on: Guilty Men broadly got it right: British Governments of the 1930s were Tory and they let Hitler and Mussolini march all over the continent before they decided to make a stand.
This book is a part of British history, articulating the popular imagination about Tory appeasement, and playing a part in the creation of collective opinion which led to 1945 and the election of a Labour Government. Truly an important, fascinating, riveting, pulsating read.
17 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
"Cato" may have been propagandist but this does not diminish from the work's historical validity. Obviously intentions behind its publication were political, and both of Britain's major parties were responsible for the mess in 1940; yet only one had a sizeable majority in the run-up to war. It would also be wise to remember the polarisation of the "Devil's Decade", and a book like this should not be expected to deliver a definitive historical account but an insight into mind-sets during a highly discordant period. It is an excellent primary source and should be treated as such.
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