The pre-war administration of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, ignoring the advice of seasoned diplomats and seasoned politicians alike, pursued a policy of appeasement in the mistaken belief that it would cause Adolf Hitler to cease his belligerent plans. Instead, it showed Hitler that the British government were willing to come to terms with him at the expense of other, smaller, nations. Martin Gilbert and Richard Gott, two young Oxford historians when they wrote this book in 1963, produced this compelling account of how a whole important branch of foreign policy was developed, how it was carried out, and why it was misconceived. They reveal what the appeasers sought, and the methods they were prepared to use to achieve their ends.