I'm John Batchel. Coffee with Hitler is the book. Charles Spicer is the author, the

untold story of the amateur spies who tried to civilize the Nazis. It is now 1939. We're dealing

with a man who is not to be trusted, Adolf Hitler. We're dealing with the British government that

in conversation with the French government, the Russian government, the American government,

are seeking a way to avoid the catastrophe of a war within 20 years of the last one,

which destroyed or damaged or scarred a generation. And that memory haunts everyone as they prepare for 1939. It is February of

1939. And there are efforts to connect the two organizations, the Deutsche Anglishegeselchacht in Germany

and the English and the Germanlish Fellowship in London.

There are even dinners held.

The one I have is February of 39.

CE attends a dinner in Germany, and the attendance is also the ambassador, Mr. Henderson, of Britain.

Henderson is an important figure because the prime minister listens to him.

What do we need to know about the ambassador, Charles?

In short, he's a disaster.

He's, Sir Neville Henderson, he was deemed to have been good with dictators because he

dealt with the king of Yugoslavia in the past,

but he was promoted from Buenos Aires, which is quite a junior embassy, and straight to Berlin,

which is obviously an absolutely critical. So he was out of his depth from the outset,

but he seemed to be somewhat in flaw to the Nazi regime.

And his main damage is that he didn't want anything done that might upset Hitler. So he was the

arch appeaser and he feeds into Chamberlain's naturally appeasing tendencies. So I think, you know, there is an argument to be said that the joint, that the appointments of

Henderson in Berlin and Ribbentrop in London, those two ambassador or appointments,

...