HITLER'S GIRL: The British Aristocracy and the Third Reich

A timely, riveting book that presents for the first time an alternative history of 1930s Britain, revealing how prominent fascist sympathizers nearly succeeded in overturning British democracy, using the past as a road map to navigate the complexities of today's turn toward authoritarianism which nearly took hold in Great Britain as it did in Italy and Germany. Drawing on recently declassified intelligence files, defence analyst Young explores the pro-Nazi sentiments of "an influential segment of Britain's elite" detailing the pervasiveness of Nazi sympathies among the British aristocracy, as significant factions of the upper class methodically pursued an actively pro-German agenda. She reveals how these aristocrats formed a murky Fifth Column to Nazi Germany, which depended on the complacence and complicity of the English to topple its proud and long-standing democratic tradition, and very nearly succeeded. She exposes the involvement of secret organizations like the Right Club, which counted the Duke of Wellington among its influential members; the Cliveden Set, which ran a shadow foreign policy in support of Hitler; and the shocking four-year affair between socialite Unity Mitford and Adolf Hitler. After enrolling in German classes and staking out one of his favourite restaurants in Munich, Mitford eventually met with Hitler more than 160 times, and may have given birth to his son. Young also suggests that pro-Nazi sentiment went all the way to the royal family, citing FBI reports that Wallis Simpson's Nazi connections (rather than her marital status) forced Prince Edward's abdication. 240 pages.