The 'X' Documents:The secret history of the Foreign Office contacts with the German Resistance 1937-39.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.FINE/FINE.No owner inscrptn,and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,glossy,laminated,black+red upper wrap with white,black,orange letters with minimal shelf-wear and negligible creasing to edges - no major nicks or tears - corners not bumped/creased.Head+foot of spine/backstrip minisculely bumped with reciprocal creases.Top edge very,very lightly dust-soiled,and along with fore-edge showing miniscule onset of light foxing/spots; otherwise,overall,generally clean; contents bright,tight and near pristine.Unblemished,plain red paper-covered boards with bright, crisp,stamped gilt letters to spine/backstrip and immaculate plain white endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,9-253pp includes half-title+title pages,contents list,author foreword,18 chapters,an epilogue,an appendix,a bibliography and index and 2pp blanks to rear. In the years 1937-39 Mr A.P. Young had five secret meetings with Carl Goerdeler,the conservative industrialist who was the central figure in the German civilian opposition to Hitler.The undertaking was approved by Anthony Eden and Sir Robert Vansittart,and the reports brought back by Mr Young were put before the Government.These are the 'X' documents,hitherto unpublished and here presented in their original form,accompanied by Mr Young's account of why and how they were procured,and the reactions they produced. Mr Young knew Goerdeler as a result of his own activities in industry,and greatly admired him for his impressive personality and moral stature.Goerdeler's antagonism to the Nazis,which led to his capture and execution after the attempt on Hitler's life on July 20,1944,seemed to Mr Young the only right attitude.The information he received at their secret meetings,embodied in the 'X' documents,suggested good reasons to suppose that Hitler,in the years immediately before the war,was to some extent bluffing,and that he might well be checked if the British Government abandoned its policy of appeasement and took a resolute stand against him.Mr Young was moved by a passionate determination to get his message across to the Government.Apart from the obvious historical importance of the 'X' documents in themselves,and the light this story throws on Carl Goerdeler's character and activities,it is moving as a personal record. Why was a Scottish engineer from the aircraft magneto industry so deeply involved in this excercise in unofficial diplomacy? The reason is simple.A man of sound sense,Mr Young had read Mein Kampf and had seen what few people at that time realised:that Hitler meant exactly what he said in it.As a devout Christian,he had understood that what Hitler meant was evil.While in political circles it may be considered naive to think that no compromise may be made with evil,to Mr Young that conclusion was natural and obvious; and events were to prove him nearer the mark than were the men in power,who decided to disregard the 'X' Documents.The main value of this book lies in the fact that it makes available documents which will undoubtedly be of use to historians.It will also be of interest to the general reader,both as a tribute to a heroic German and as an example of a private citizen's attempt to influence great events for no other reason than that he recognized evil when he saw it. Please contact rpaxtonden@blueyonder.co.uk ,because of the weight and value of this item,for correct,insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!