Neville Chamberlain

Smart (history, U. of Plymouth, UK) provides a biography of Conservative British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (1869-1940), who played a part in an effort to appease Hitler by conceding part of Czechoslovakia to him. Smart recounts Chamberlain's life, political career, achievements, and failures, focusing on how the system in which he found himself operating impacted historical developments. Unlike other biographers, Smart does not try to compensate for his shortcomings or place his failings in a more positive light and presents Chamberlain as a hardworking yet "nasty" person. Annotation 穢2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)