My Amazon Review of Robert Harris' "Munich: A Novel"

Two Flies on the Diplomatic Wall

Author Robert Harris has given us a well-researched fast paced novel on the 1938 Munich Conference where Britain and France surrendered the Sudetenland portion of Czechoslovakia to Nazi Germany to avoid a war that was surely coming. His two protagonists Hugh Legat, a junior secretary at 10 Downing Street, and Paul von Hartmann, an official in the German Foreign Office, act as flies on the wall as Hitler and Chamberlain meet at the Regina Palast Hotel in Munich to settle the crisis. Legat and von Hartmann are linked by their past connections at Oxford.

The book opens with Hitler’s September 27th ultimatum to Czechoslovakia to surrender the Sudetenland or face an invasion. It is here where Legat and von Hartmann watch as events transpire and we hear conversations of the very real historical figures on both sides. We see Chamberlain scrambling to get Mussolini to act as a mediator which quickly brings about the conference. Both Legat and von Hartman end up at the conference as interpreters through the manipulation of the intelligence services of both countries. In von Hartmann’s case, he is a member of the Oster conspiracy to bring Hitler down. It failed in 1938 and failed spectacularly in 1944. Von Hartmann is bringing to Munich the minutes of a 1937 meeting which Hitler announced his plans for a general European war to his senior military and foreign policy officials. Von Hartmann naively believes that if Chamberlain had that information he wouldn’t yield to Hitler forcing a war that the German military would rebel against Hitler.

Through the very anti-Nazi Legat Harris paints a sympathetic picture of Chamberlain trying to avoid the second Great War in 20 years. He has Chamberlain understanding that Britain was both militarily and psychologically unprepared for war and his appeasement policy was buying time to strengthen the country. However he avoids bringing up the facts that it was the Baldwin-Chamberlain policies that put Britain in the position of weakness.

Along the way we get a sense of what life was like in 10 Downing Street, the precariousness of air travel and the general yearning for peace in both Britain and Germany. Chamberlain was hailed as a hero in both countries, much to the chagrin of Hitler. I found the book to be a great read and it was hard to put down.  

For the full Amazon URL see: https://www.amazon.com/review/R15EDI4IZZT9YF/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv