The specter of Munich : reconsidering the lessons of appeasing Hitler / by Jeffrey Record

Washington, D. C. : Potomac Books, 2007. First Edition. Hardcover. An exceptional copy; fine in an equally fine dw, now mylar-sleeved. Particularly and surprisingly well-preserved; tight, bright, clean and especially sharp-cornered. Literally as new.; 164 pages; Description: xi, 164 p. : maps ; 24 cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. 146-155) and index. Subjects: Munich Four-Power Agreement (1938) --World War, 1939-1945 --Diplomatic history. Summary: The Anglo-French appeasement of Nazi Germany in the 1930s has exerted a very great influence on post-war America's use of military force. The supposed grand lesson of Munich - that capitulating to the demands of aggressive dictatorships invites further aggression - has influenced Presidents from Harry Truman to George W. Bush to mobilise public opinion for military action. This book takes an unconventional look at this disastrous chapter in Western Diplomatic history, and disputes the official view that unchecked aggression always attracts further aggression. The lessons are: the severe penalties that foreign policy miscalculations can incur; the constraints of public opinion in a modern democracy; the virtue of consistency in threatening and using force.