The John Batchelor Show

S8 Ep1143: Charles Spicer relates how, in the summer of 1939, Ernest Tennant undertook an incognito mission to meet Ribbentrop, hoping to find a path to peace. He returned with warnings that Hitler was focused on Poland and prepared for a ten-year war. While London

S8 Ep1143: Charles Spicer describes how, as 1939 began, the diplomatic situation worsened due to the catastrophic appointments of Henderson and Ribbentrop. Henderson, the "arch-appeaser," fed Chamberlain's natural tendencies and suppressed reports that might upset H

S8 Ep1143: Charles Spicer recounts how, by September 1938, the amateur spies learned of the Oster Conspiracy, a robust plan by German military and police units to arrest Hitler and prevent war. Spicer argues this was a credible arrangement that could have succeeded

S8 Ep1143: Charles Spicer describes how, during the 1937 coronation of George VI, Ribbentrop hosted a chaotic, overcrowded party at the German embassy. Despite the champagne-fueled festivities, the event was a social failure that highlighted the growing friction bet

S8 Ep1143: Charles Spicer explains that by late 1937, the Fellowship was being monitored by MI5 and penetrated by the NKVD. Soviet spy Kim Philby was even hired to manage the organization's PR, feeding information to Stalin, who feared an Anglo-German alliance again