Truth About Rudolf Hess - Hardcover

Rudolf Hess flew to Britain seventy five years ago, in one of the most extraordinary and bizarre episodes of the Second World War. Hess parachuted into Scotland on 10 May 1941 to the astonishment of the British Government. It was the very same day that the House of Commons was burnt to the ground by German incendiary bombs. In a New and Expanded Edition of his book 'The Truth About Rudolf Hess', James Douglas-Hamilton explores many of the myths which still surround the affair. He traces the developments which persuaded Hess to undertake the flight without Hitler's knowledge, and shows why he chose to approach the Duke of Hamilton. In the process he highlights the importance of Albrecht Haushofer, one-time envoy for Hitler and Ribbentrop and consultant on foreign affairs to Hess, who was eventually executed by the SS without trial because of his involvement with the German Resistance to Hitler.Drawing on British War Cabinet papers and the author's unparalleled access to both the Hamilton papers and the Haushofer letters, this New Edition of The Truth About Rudolf Hess takes the reader into the heart of the Third Reich, combining an account of tumultuous and murderous events, with a scholarly historical approach.

James Douglas-Hamilton read history at Balliol College, was a Boxing Blue and President of the Oxford Union. After a spell in the legal profession, he became the Member of Parliament for Edinburgh West, and later a Scottish Office Minister. From 1999 to 2007 he was a Member of the Scottish Parliament and now sits as a Life Peer in the House of Lords as Lord Selkirk of Douglas.