Hitler's Finishing School: Augusta Victoria College

In the 1930s sunlit seaside town of Bexhill, Sussex, a sinister experiment unfolded behind the genteel façade of Augusta Victoria College. This exclusive finishing school catered to the daughters of Nazi leaders and German aristocracy - young women groomed not only in English manners and etiquette but as emissaries in Hitler's charm offensive to win over Britain's elite. Their blazers bore swastikas, and the school crest brazenly paired the Union Jack with the Nazi emblem, symbolizing a chilling vision: a union between the British Empire and the Third Reich. Among its pupils were Bettina von Ribbentrop, daughter of Hitler's foreign minister; Isa von Bergen, daughter of the Nazi envoy to the Vatican; and Princess Herzeleide of Prussia, granddaughter of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Some would remain loyal to the regime; others, like Countess Reinhild von Hardenberg, would later join the resistance. But all were assets in a covert strategy to infiltrate British high society - and some of their hosts were disturbingly willing partners. Drawing on first-hand accounts and newly uncovered evidence, Hitler's Finishing School exposes the extraordinary story of this institution - the only one of its kind in Britain - and the web of influence, ambition, and betrayal that surrounded it. Scandalous, gripping, and steeped in intrigue, this is one untold history of how close Britain came to embracing the Nazi dream. AUTHOR: Paul StJohn Mackintosh lives in France and is a British author of historical and imaginative works, as well as an historian, journalist and game creator. As well as full-length historical publications, he has contributed extensively to historical reference works and popular history books. He is a member of the Historical Writers Association, and is a Masters graduate in History and Art History from Trinity College, Cambridge. 20 b/w illustrations