The Ribbentrop Memoirs (1954)
 
Joachim von Ribbentrop, Foreign Minisler of the Third Reich, was hanged at Nuremberg on 16th October, 1946. Unrepentant and unshaken in his loyalty to Hitler, he spent the last weeks of his life in writing his memoirs, and now at last his widow has allowed his manuscript to be published. The Ribbentrop Memoirs are one of the most important accounts, written from the German side, of the diplomatic preludes to the Second World War; they are also an unwitting revelation of the character of Hitler's chief expert on English affairs.
 
Ribbentrop was a late convert to Nazism and first met Hitler in 1932. But against the uneducated lower-middle class background of the Party, he stood out as a man of social standing and cosmopolitan culture (he had put to good use his wife's wealth and connections). Ribbentrop describes the secret meetings in his house between Hitler and von Papen which led to the overthrow of the Weimar Republic, and how he thrust himself upon the Fuhrer as his adviser on foreign affairs. For his successful negotiation of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement Ribbentrop was made Ambassador in London. Naively trusting in his admiration for the British Empire and in Edward VIII's supposed pro-German sympathies, he worked for an Anglo-German alliance, and the German Embassy became the social centre of British appeasement.
 
Ribbentrop, describes how distinguished Englishmen came uninvited to Embassy receptions. He attributes the disappointment of his hopes to the Abdication and to the sinister influence of Lord Vansittart.
 
The summit of Ribbentrop's career was his triumphant visit to Moscow in August 1939 to meet Stalin and sign the German-Soviet Pact. During the war Ribbentrop's influence declined.
 
He reveals his bitter struggles with Himmler and the other Nazi leaders.
 
With An Introduction By Alan Bullock
 
First British Edition and very rare with Dust Jacket
 
Hard Cover with Dust Jacket
216 Pages 
In Good Condition