Review
His voice became horribly familiar, hated and ridiculed during the Second World War. William Joyce, better known as 'Lord Haw Haw' for his plummy, nasal droning over the airwaves, broadcast an unceasing stream of propaganda for the Nazis. Hitler and Goebbels saw this benign-looking little Englishman as their secret weapon to undermine British morale, and they put him on the wireless night after night to do his work. Of course, the ploy didn't work. Long before 1945 Joyce was regarded in Britain more as a figure of fun than a menace. Even so, he was tried for high treason and hanged in 1946. Few people know more about Joyce than that, but this study delves into the man's often odious past and shows what conditioned him to turn traitor. Much of the information is revealed for the first time, having been culled from newly released documents. As well as telling us about Joyce it also explains much that was previously unknown about life in Nazi Germany both before and during the war. After his arrest in 1945, as he tried to flee through Denmark, it was generally suggested in the British press that the Nazis had wooed Joyce through playing on his vanity and deep sense of inferiority. In fact, as historian Peter Martland reveals, Joyce had been a prominent figure in the British fascist movement before the war and the secret services had been monitoring his activities since 1924. After a bust-up with fascist leader Oswald Mosley he relocated to Germany in 1939 to head the 'English Committee' - part of Goebbels's Propaganda Ministry. Previously he had set up the National Socialist League in Britain and wrote a booklet, Fascism and Jewry, which made his anti-semitism clear. Here we have not a vain opportunist but a man with strong political convictions and a streak of ruthlessness. Peter Martland's biography is well researched and written, and he brings new light to Joyce's character and surroundings. (Kirkus UK)
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
The Times
'Martland's hundred pages of ntroduction is masterly.'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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