Was Neville Chamberlain merely naïve, a man of peace who was blind to Hitler's warlike intentions in the late 1930s? Or did he, with the backing of much of Britain's ruling elite, positively prefer Nazism to the threat of Communism in a politically charged era?
Alvin Finkel and Clement Leibovitz forcefully maintain the latter view. They present irrefutable evidence that in 1938 Chamberlain's government, supported by powerful business interests and an influential segment of the press, sought an agreement with the Nazis that would protect the west against attack while positively encouraging German expansion in central and eastern Europe. Attempts to conclude a pact among Britain, France, Germany and Italy were not, in fact, abandoned until Churchill's ascension to power in May of 1940.
The Chamberlain-Hitler Collusion is a bold and scrupulously documented reexamination of a vital period in European history, one that definitively overturns much received wisdom.

ALVIN FINKEL is a founding member of the Alberta Labour History Institute, an emeritus professor of History at Athabasca University where he taught for 36 years and the past president of the Canadian Committee on Labour History.

He was the book review editor for the journal Labour/Le Travail for 11 years and is still a member of that journal’s editorial board. A prolific author, Alvin’s 13 books have sold over 150,000 copies. They include textbooks on Canadian history and the history of social policy as well as labour history and the history of the events leading to World War II. On the latter topic, he co-wrote The Chamberlain-Hitler Collusion with Clement Leibovitz (Lorimer 2011). He lives in Edmonton Alberta.

Alvin Finkel's profile page

CLEMENT LEIBOVITZ spent eight years researching the events leading to the Second World War - he passed away Nov 14, 2009.

Clement Leibovitz's profile page

Christopher Hitchens was a journalist and the author of twenty books, including the international bestselling book God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. He was a regular contributor to Vanity Fair, The Atlantic Monthly, and Slate. His writing has also appeared in the Weekly Standard, the National Review, and The Independent, and he has made television appearances on The Daily Show, Charlie Rose, and Real Time with Bill Maher.

Hitchens was named one of the world’s "Top 100 Public Intellectuals" by Foreign Policy and Britain's Prospect. He recently wrote a memoir, Hitch-22.

Christopher Hitchens' profile page

"Finkel and Leibovitz have come up with a new and more satisfactory explanation of why the Second World War broke out when it did."

Telegraph Journal

"Anyone who likes to read about the Second World War -- and anyone who remembers its beginnings -- will learn much from this book.... The story [The Chamberlain-Hitler Collusion tells should be better known."

Charlottetown Guardian