Motive for a Mission: The Story Behind Hess's Flight to Britain

by James Douglas-Hamilton, Alan Bullock (Foreword)

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Prologue
The Work of Albrecht Haushofer
The Hess-Haushofer Peace Feelers
The Fate of Albrecht Haushofer
Epilogue
Appendices
Sources
Select Bibliography
Index

Genres: World War II

290 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1971

Reviews

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is less about Rudolf Hess and his flight than it is about Albrecht Haushofer and his father's geopolitical theories which, the author argues, motivated Hess' attempt to negotiate peace with the British.

Haushofer was a German conservative, a professor and mid-level official in the Nazi foreign office. Of Jewish ancestry, he was never a party member. He was, however, a protected Jew, protected because of his father's assistance to Hess during the Munich incident, protected because of his own personal relationship with Hitler's secretary. His story is representative of many conservatives who, while German nationalists, attempted to moderate the disastrous application of Hitler's 'national socialist' ideology to foreign policy.