Munich

Delay. Chances are, if your education is anything like mine, all you really think of when the name Neville Chamberlain comes to mind is "appeasement," something our leaders should avoid. In his novel titled, Munich, Robert Harris covers just a few days in 1938, the days before and after Chamberlain's meeting with Hitler in Munich over Germany's takeover of the Sudetenland, a German speaking area of what was Czechoslovakia. As in earlier novels, Harris describes settings with great detail, offers an interesting and engaging plot, and leads readers to a view of Chamberlain that is kinder now than in recent decades. In the novel, the delay that Chamberlain achieved in Munich was in response to the lack of preparedness in England to engage in war with Germany. As in our lives, when our choices are less than satisfying, we will select the least bad alternative, and Harris presents Chamberlain as doing just that in 1938. He delayed confrontation with Hitler until the country was ready, and that prudent act was in no way appeasement. Rating: Four-star (I like it) Click here to purchase Munich from amazon.com.