Wages of Appeasement explores the reasons why a powerful state gives in to aggressors. It tells the story of three historical examples of appeasement: the greek city-states of the fourth century b.c., which lost their freedom to Philip II of Macedon; England in the twenties and thirties, and the failure to stop Germany's aggression that led to World War II; and America's current war against Islamic jihad and the 30-year failure to counter Iran's attacks on the U.S. The inherent weaknesses of democracies and their bad habit of pursuing short-term interests at the expense of long-term security play a role in appeasement. But more important are the bad ideas people indulge, from idealized views of human nature to utopian notions like pacifism or disarmament. But especially important is the notion that diplomatic engagement and international institutions like the u.n. can resolve conflict and deter an aggressor––the delusion currently driving the Obama foreign policy in the middle east. Wages of Appeasement combines narrative history and cultural analysis to show how ideas can have dangerous and deadly consequences.

The Wages of Appeasement explores the reasons why a powerful state gives in to aggressors. It tells the story of three historical examples of appeasement: the Greek city-states of the fourth century B.C., which lost their freedom to Philip II of M...

The eagerly-awaited Paul Muller sequel, A Spy in Vienna, is a novel of political intrigue, dramatizing the Nazi takeover of Austria in 1938. It is the second Paul Muller novel set in Europe before World War II. Muller is recruited to become a spy to resist Hitler's campaign to absorb Austria into the German Reich and, from his perch in Vienna, finds himself at the epicenter of the desperate struggle to preserve Austrian independence. Muller plays a dangerous game in helping Austria oppose Hitler's demands and he hatches a bold plan to divert Austria's gold reserves so they stay out of Hitler's grasp. The novel captures this gripping drama in rich and vivid detail as political pressures mount and the threat of war looms. A Spy in Vienna re-creates for readers the fraught atmosphere of 1930's, when the threat of Nazi violence hung over Europe. Aficionados of that epoch will relish the authenticity of the novel, which reawakens the tensions and turbulence of the era, with its undercurrent of violence and fear. The narrative recaptures the urgency of the crisis as repeated confrontations escalated to an explosive conclusion. Today, sitting at the safe remove of eighty years, we know the outcome. Hitler's bald aggression prevailed; his takeover of Austria became a crucial stepping stone leading to World War II. But the characters in the novel know none of this; for them, the events they are caught up in are frightening and bewildering, confronting them with dire choices and fearful consequences. The novel transports the reader into that contemporary maelstrom of intrigue and danger-combining real history with a compelling story. Admirers of Paul Muller in Danzig will revel in his new adventures in Vienna, as once again he confronts Nazi tyranny.

Once a colossus dominating the globe, Europe today is a doddering convalescent. Sluggish economic growth, high unemployment, an addiction to expensive social welfare entitlements, a dwindling birth-rate among native Europeans, and most important, an increasing Islamic immigrant population chronically underemployed yet demographically prolific--all point to a future in which Europe will be transformed beyond recognition, a shrinking museum culture riddled with ever-expanding Islamist enclaves. Decline and Fall tells the story of this decline by focusing on the larger cultural dysfunctions behind the statistics. The abandonment of the Christian tradition that created the West's most cherished ideals--a radical secularism evident in Europe's indifference to God and church--created a vacuum of belief into which many pseudo-religions have poured. Scientism, fascism, communism, environmentalism, multiculturalism, sheer hedonism-- all have attempted and failed, sometimes bloodily, to provide Europeans with an alternative to Christianity that can show them what is worth living and dying for. Meanwhile a resurgent Islam, feeding off the economic and cultural marginalization of European Muslims, knows all too well not just what is worth dying for, but what is worth killing for. Crippled by fashionable self-loathing and fantasies of multicultural inclusiveness, Europeans have met this threat with capitulation instead of strength, appeasement and apologies instead of the demand that immigrants assimilate. As Decline and Fall shows, Europe's solution to these ills--a larger and more powerful European Union--simply exacerbates the problems, for the EU cannot address the absence of a unifying belief that can spur Europe even to defend itself, let alone to recover its lost grandeur. As these problems worsen, Europe will face an unappetizing choice between two somber destinies: a violent nationalistic or nativist reaction, or, more likely, a long descent into cultural senescence and slow-motion suicide.

"A new history of the British appeasement of the Third Reich on the eve of World War II"--

When The Sky Blue Ball comes soaring over the fence, a high-school girl is confronted with the haunting memory of childhood. A jealous teen lets her cousin go off alone with a dangerous Capricorn, aware of the terrifying possibilities. A vulnerable young girl cunningly outwits a menacing stranger and exults in her newfound power, surviving the first of many Small Avalanches. In these twelve riveting tales, master storyteller Joyce Carol Oates visits the dark, enigmatic psyche of the teenage years. Intense and unnerving, uplifting and triumphant, the stories in this collection explore the fateful consequences of the choices we make in our everyday lives.

The looming menace of Nazi oppressionhung like a dark cloud over the Free City of Danzig.Inspired by actual events, Danzig is a story of diplomatic conflict and political intrigue in Central Europe during the 1930's. Richly atmospheric, it is gripping historical fiction in the grand tradition. The Free City of Danzig was established by the Treaty of Versailles as a mandate to be protected by the League of Nations and its High Commissioner. In 1933, the Nazi party took control of Danzig and pursued a hostile and violent agenda aimed at overthrowing the League's High Commissioner and subverting its constitutional protections. Sean Lester, an Irish diplomat, was the League's High Commissioner and Paul Muller, a young man fresh from university, was his secretary during this tense period. The story portrays the roles played by Lester and Muller as repeated crises engulfed Danzig and high stakes confrontations led to diplomatic clashes and, finally, political betrayal. Their story vividly captures the struggle between rampant Nazi ascendency and the League's mandate to preserve Danzig's fragile democracy. Through the eyes of Lester and Muller, from their perch at the epicenter of the Danzig conflict, we watch Hitler consolidating power and flexing growing German strength; we see Britain embracing a policy of feckless appeasement, unwilling to confront the looming German menace; and we are caught up in the hothouse atmosphere of a hesitant League of Nations, brimming with intrigue and infighting and ultimately failing to deliver on its promise of peace through diplomacy and collective security.The story encompasses fast-paced events in Geneva, Berlin, Warsaw and London, as well as Danzig itself, capturing the drama of unfolding crisis that engulfed Europe in the 1930's on what we now know was the path to war. This is a work of fiction, but aficionados of interwar novels will relish the authenticity of the narrative. Most of the story's characters were real people and the events described actually happened. Danzig brings them vividly back to life and invites readers to experience the drama of clashes within the Nazi leadership, rivalries among Western politicians pursuing competing agendas, and the lonely role of the League's High Commissioner trying to face down dangerous adversaries.It is a gripping tale in a fateful time: the struggle for the Free City of Danzig.