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Guilty Men Paperback – November 11, 2011

4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 74 ratings

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In his preface to the 1998 reissue, Michael Foot wrote, 'Guilty Men was conceived by three London journalists who had formed the habit of meeting on the roof of the Evening Standard offices in Shoe Lane, Fleet Street, just after the the afternoon paper had been put to bed and, maybe, just before the Two Brewers opened across the road.'The book's genesis and publication could hardly have been swifter. Its writing took four days from the 1st to the 4th June 1940: it was published on the 5th July. It is an angry book, indeed, a devastatingly effective polemic. Its target was the appeasers of the 1930s, the leading culprits being Baldwin, Chamberlain and Halifax who had left the country so ill-prepared, and who, by their pusillanimity, had emboldened Hitler and Mussolini; and in the case of the last two still favoured some accommodation with the fascist dictators. In today's parlance, it would be called a wake-up call. It was very successful selling about 200,000 copies.Kenneth Morgan, Michael Foot's biographer, describes the book as consisting of 'a series of brief vignettes of key episodes or personalities, the latter invariably foolish or dishonest.' Michael Foot wrote eight of the chapters, the first and most powerful one being on Dunkirk.Although Michael Foot was the main contributor, and the one who suggested 'Cato' as the umbrella pseudonym, the other two, as Michael Foot would be the first to admit, Peter Howard and Frank Own should not be forgotten.Seventy years on, Guilty Men has not lost its readability and power to enrage.
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Faber and Faber (November 11, 2011)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 156 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0571270204
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0571270200
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.96 x 0.39 x 7.79 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 74 ratings

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4.4 out of 5 stars
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2019
    There was plenty to like and nothing to dislike. This book is full of interesting little known facts about men who were part of the British Government from the late 20s through May 1940 who, through ignorance and incompetence, directly contributed to the start of WWII. Being a student of this historical period, I nevertheless found this book to be an eye opener to the reasons for the appeasement of Hitler from 1933 to 1940. An excellent read.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2024
    Fascinating window into history
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2019
    its an easy to read book about Great Britain government in the 30s and who should be held accountable for the lack of government planning and preparation leading up to WW2. If you like history about this period you will like this book even if you are not British.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2021
    An important contemporary polemic written quickly by three journalists in early 1940. It is a historical document iin its own right. It reflects the change in public opinion in Britain once war broke out in 1939 and the blame attributed to those whose apparent lack of action led to initial defeats in Norway and at Dunkirk.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2013
    Here is the gallery of fools that brought Hitler to the threshold of world domination, most of these accounts are too polite. Not for the faint of heart! Ad Lloyd George to the pot and you've got a catalog of political self destruction unmatched until our contemporary determination to walk the economic plank. This is the book that finally threw these bastards out - stunning.
    8 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2017
    I enjoyed reading this book but, it is highly misleading now just as it was when first published, and likely meant to be. It was and is a polemic.

    Many, many over generalizations. Where to begin? The entire book is just propaganda.

    For example, the authors lambast the English leadership for not embarking on a massive arms buildup like Nazi Germany. Well, the English were not determined to a launch a war as soon as humanly able. England was (and still is) a democratic country. The people calling out for war (Churchill) were out of power. The people wouldn't vote for an arms race. Churchill was in the govt during the war but his party lost power even before the war was over and he was out of power again. That's called democracy.
    The German expense on defense was so high, if they hadn't used their army to invade and loot other countries, what would they have done? Their precious air force, if unused, would have been obsolete in 4 years. They'd be bankrupt.
    The English were behind on airplane building? They were at the start of the war. The English didn't know when the war would begin, and had no interest in building a large obsolete air force. Plane design was moving so fast that every four years designs became outdated. Once the war began, the English built more planes in every year of the war than Germany.
    Many other things left out. Stalin is hardly mentioned in the book. He helped Hitler directly and indirectly, including the invasion of Poland. I've always thought this book was a KGB operation, completely ignoring Stalin's active assistance to Hitler.
    So many wrong things in this book. The Poles fighting tanks with cavalry? That vile German propaganda never dies. DIdn't happen, but everybody who allowed German aggression against Poland to go unanswered was glad to adopt the German view that the Poles were hopelessly backwards and beyond saving.
    The English caught napping by the invasion of Norway? We now know that the Germans were forced to invade Norway to defend their Swedish iron ore deliveries (oh, those), since the English were getting ready to occupy Norway to cut off those Swedish ore supplies. Not stated is that the Germans lost seven destroyers fighting the English, a heavy blow for their navy.
    During the seven month phony war, England was not idle. It was putting economic pressure on Germany and building up it own military. The blockade was a severe problem, making Hitler dependent on Stalin's continued support. Hitler's invasion of France was a desperate gamble on his part. He was getting relatively weaker compared to England and France and Russia and had to so something. It was a long shot.
    IF THE FRENCH ARMY HAD NOT COLLAPSED AND THE GERMAN OFFENSIVE DEFEATED, HITLER WOULD HAVE LIKELY BEEN REMOVED FROM POWER BY AN ARMY REVOLT. IN ANY EVENT, GERMANY WOULD HAVE SHOT ITS BOLT, JUST LIKE IT DID IN 1918 AND LATER IN 1944 AND CHAMBERLAIN WOULD BE HAILED TODAY AS THE GREATEST STATESMAN OF THE 20th CENTURY.
    I put that in cap so it would make an impression.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2015
    This is an amazing book. I didn't know such a book existed. This is a must read for all people.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2013
    An interesting period view of the Appeasement period. Eliminates the post war agendas and rewrites of history by Churchill and others.
    4 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Hobnails
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Most important piece of week
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 13, 2024
    Written almost ninety years ago to out the appeasers of those times when the nation faced a perilous future- with a core message for today.
  • Christopher John Gould
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good purchase of a hard to get hold of classic
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 7, 2016
    Good purchase of a hard to get hold of classic.Interesting because it reveals the young Michael Foot as something of a lobbyist for the newspaper magnate Lord Beaverbrook to become a minister of war production after the Chamberlain appeasement policy.He is unfair,I think,on Neville Chamberlain and rather disdainful of Chamberlains amenuensis,Sir Horace Wilson whom he seems to regard as an upstart rather than an outstanding meritocrat from a humble background.However this does not spoil the book which is a polemic.Some of Foots comments and attitudes are surprising coming from a man who was a long standing left wing leader-rather elitist to my mind.
  • The Establishment Fears Investigation
    4.0 out of 5 stars It helped me a lot
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 17, 2011
    I purchased this book some time ago, while I was doing A Level History. Our job was to examine the Orthodox, Revisionist and Counter-Revisionist views in regards to Appeasement.

    This piece of work is high on the Orthodox agenda, alongside other works such as The Gathering Storm, which came out in 1948. This book was first published in 1940 and has been published countless times since.

    The version I received was printed in 1942 by Victor Gollancz Ltd, and it still has that 1940's book scent attached to it. The book I received had some pencil marks and creases on the cover, on the spine of the book, and on a few pages. The seller left me a very kind note as well, but for a book published in 1942 was in quite good condition.

    Some people have claimed that Cato was a book produced by Left wing fanatics. This simply isn't the case. Winston Churchill receives a fair amount of praise in the book, and one of Cato's authors was a long standing Conservative, Peter Howard.

    The book is very reactionary and doesn't contain sources or documentary evidence. However, one thing it does hold, is that the views expressed in this book represented a large portion of public opinion.

    Nothing is mentioned of the Soviet Union's invasion of Poland in 1939 either. That is probably why the book always receiver's the "Left wing" tag.

    As a historical source, all this book represents is the views of a significant number of people at that time. Nothing factual however.

    I gave it 4 star's because this book helped me out a lot on in my A-Level History course and if anybody needs to find out about public opinion at that time, then this book is one to read. But overall, the "facts" in this book simply don't stand up to today's Historical scrutiny (The only two historical views on appeasement that have any documentary evidence are the Revisionist and Counter-Revisionist view, and not the Orthodox view because it is a mere reaction)
  • Alan Air
    5.0 out of 5 stars Michael Foot was an inspiration...
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 28, 2013
    Whilst the style is very rigid and old-fashioned there's a wealth of excellent political information about the establishment figures in Britain who helped paved the way for Hitler's madness across the channel....
  • Brian Wiles
    5.0 out of 5 stars A classic
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 2, 2018
    Should be required reading for all students of twentieth century history.