Summary
The conventional view of Neville Chamberlain's dealings with Hitler at the 1938 Munich Conference, paints him as weak and gullible - an appeaser. But why did appeasement become such a dirty word when negotiation and accommodation are such valuable diplomatic tools? Rana Mitter is joined by historian Tim Bouverie, screenwriter Alex von Tunzelmann and journalist Juliet Samuel to reassess Chamberlain's reputation and to examine how the long shadow of Munich still affects the actions of politicians in the 21st century.
Tim Bouverie is the author of Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War. Alex von Tunzelmann wrote the screenplay for Jonathan Teplitzky's 2017 film Churchill. Juliet Samuel is a columnist who covers politics, economics, foreign policy and technology for The Telegraph.
There's a new film adaptation of Robert Harris's best-selling novel Munich. Munich: The Edge of War is on selected release in cinemas from 7th January and available on Netflix from 21st January.
Producer: Torquil MacLeod
You can find a playlist of programmes exploring War and Conflict on the Free Thinking website https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06kgbyb
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Can I just say? |
| 0:01.5 | You're about to listen to a BBC podcast. |
| 0:04.0 | It's such a wonderful listen. |
| 0:05.6 | So nice. |
| 0:06.5 | There are loads more like it on BBC sounds. |
| 0:08.8 | Different paces, different heights. |
| 0:10.6 | The roof is buckling. |
| 0:11.9 | Where you can also listen to live sports commentary. |
| 0:14.2 | It's right foot goes for goal. |
| 0:16.7 | And then enjoy even more podcasts full of analysis and reaction to the big stories. |
| 0:21.6 | The stat that is astonishing is they ended with the lowest amount of possession. |
| 0:25.2 | And she's had to live with that. |
| 0:26.8 | So if you love sport, a passion, it's almost like a religion. |
| 0:29.7 | Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:31.7 | Sort of expecting that every week now. |
| 0:34.7 | Hello. It may not be peace in our time, but we're going to find out more about the |
| 0:39.1 | past to war in 1938 and nine as we discuss the film adaptation of Robert Harris's thriller, |
| 0:45.4 | Munich, and ask whether appeasement can explain our world today as well. That's all after this |
| 0:52.1 | word. Hello, my name's Ian McMillan, |
| 0:54.6 | and before you slide into the podcast you were expecting, |
| 0:57.3 | let me tell you a little bit about my programme The Verbe, |
| 1:00.1 | Radio 3's Literary Festival, Language Cafe, |
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