Hitler's Englishman

The Crime of 'Lord Haw-Haw'

Francis Selwyn

$189

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Routledge
03 March 2025

Biography: historical, political & military; Second World War; Crime & criminology; Conservatism & right-of-centre democratic ideologies; Legal history

Series: Routledge Revivals

‘Lord Haw-Haw’ (William Joyce) was Hitler’s secret weapon of the airwaves. Nightly through the Second World War Joyce’s nasal tones were transmitted to a delighted if sceptical audience. He had a large and enthusiastic following, who looked upon his catchphrase ‘Jairmany calling’ as the promise of comic relief as sure as that provided by Tommy Handley and the much-loved radio programme It’s That Man Again (ITMA).

Joyce, of course, was not a figure of fun; nor was he regarded as one by the British government which twisted and adjusted the law to bring him to a traitor’s death in 1946. Originally published in 1987, in this new approach to the case of William Joyce, Francis Selwyn looks both at the career of Joyce, the Irish-American-cum-Fascist bully-boy, and the changing nature of treason, altered by the events of the Second World War.

Was Joyce a traitor? Or was he sent to the scaffold as a necessary sacrifice? Behind the voice of the decadent aristocrat lurked the real William Joyce, a street-corner fanatic of the Fascist movement. Who was he? Hitler’s Englishman follows the path to Nazi treason and the final reckoning on the gallows of Wandsworth Prison.

Treason, as Francis Selwyn shows, is a crime which has been adapted to circumstances. After the Second Word War it was reshaped to embrace ‘new’ traitors, who had committed different kinds of treason. For Joyce, his loyalty to the ideals of Nazism transcended territory and nationality: he had no regrets about what he had done. His story, and the story of treason in the days of victory over Fascism, still have a powerful message for us today.

By: Francis Selwyn
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 138mm,
ISBN: 9781032960586
ISBN 10: 1032960582
Series: Routledge Revivals
Pages: 238
Publication Date: 03 March 2025
Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , Adult education , ELT Advanced , Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Francis Selwyn (pen name of Donald Serrell Thomas) (1934–2022) worked in journalism and publishing. His work primarily included Victorian-era historical crime and detective fiction, as well as books on factual crime and criminals, in particular several academic books on the history of crime in London. He was also Professor Emeritus of English Literature at Cardiff University.