Spying on the Reich. The Cold War Against Hitler

8vo, br. ed. in english, first edition. uncorrectec proofs copy. pp.384. From 1933, these spy services watched with growing alarm as they tried to determine what sort of threat Hitler's regime would now pose to the rest of Europe. Would Germany rearm, either covertly or in open defiance of the outside world? Would Hitler turn his attention eastwards - or did he also pose a threat to the west? What were the feelings and attitudes of ordinary Germans, towards their own regime as well as the outside world? Despite intense rivalry and mistrust between them, these spy chiefs began to liaise and close ranks against Nazi Germany. At the heart of this loose, informal network were the British and French intelligence services, alongside the Poles and Czechs. Some other countries - Holland, Belgium, and the United States - stood at the periphery. Drawing on a wide range of previously unpublished British, French, German, Danish, and Czech archival sources, Spying on the Reich tells the story of Germany and its rearmament in the 1920s and 1930s; its relations with foreign governments and their intelligence services; and the relations and rivalries between Western governments, seen through the prism of the cooperation, or lack of it, between their spy agencies. Along the way, it addresses some of the most intriguing questions that still perplex historians of the period, such as how and why Britain defended Poland in September 1939, and what alternative policies could have been pursued. R. T. Howard is a former visiting researcher in History at King's College, London and the author of five books on history and international relations. He has written for the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Spectator, and many other publications. Dal 1933, questi servizi di spionaggio osservarono con crescente allarme mentre cercavano di determinare quale tipo di minaccia il regime di Hitler avrebbe ora rappresentato per il resto d'Europa. La Germania si sarebbe riarmata, di nascosto o in aperta sfida al mondo esterno? Hitler avrebbe rivolto la sua attenzione verso est - o rappresentava anche una minaccia per l'Occidente? Quali erano i sentimenti e gli atteggiamenti dei tedeschi comuni, verso il proprio regime e il mondo esterno? Nonostante l'intensa rivalit‡ e diffidenza tra loro, questi capi spia iniziarono a collaborare e serrare i ranghi contro la Germania nazista. Al centro di questa rete informale c'erano i servizi segreti britannici e francesi, accanto ai polacchi e ai cechi. Alcuni altri paesi - Olanda, Belgio e Stati Uniti - si trovavano alla periferia. Attingendo a una vasta gamma di fonti d'archivio britanniche, francesi, tedesche, danesi e ceche inedite, Spying on the Reich racconta la storia della Germania e del suo riarmo negli anni 1920 e 1930; le sue relazioni con i governi stranieri e i loro servizi di intelligence; e le relazioni e le rivalit‡ tra i governi occidentali, viste attraverso il prisma della cooperazione, o la mancanza di esso, tra le loro agenzie di spionaggio. Lungo la strada, affronta alcune delle domande pi˘ intriganti che ancora lasciano perplessi gli storici del periodo, come come e perchÈ la Gran Bretagna difese la Polonia nel settembre 1939 e quali politiche alternative avrebbero potuto essere perseguite?