The authors write a very stout book to investigate what happened or what could have happened. And that is my major problem with the book: on the basis of a number of very flimsy clues they draw far-reaching conclusions which they then present as the only possible truth in the rest of the book. They then use those conclusions as the basis for even more far-fetched conclusions etc.

I also think that there is more to the flight of Hess than the ravings of a lunatic, but this book is a very easy way to come with a fantastic story. And the major conclusion (the person in Spandau prison was a double of the real Rudolf Hess who died in WW 2) is not supported by the evidence presented in this book.


But if the cause be not good ....   October 19, 2003
 13 out of 18 found this review helpful

There are not many German books about Rudolf Hess. By contrast, the book list presented in Double Standards" gives us a dozen British or US titles dealing specifically with the man and many more in which Hess plays a part. Is this due only to the well-known British love of mystery stories, or are there other reasons for the seemingly constant preoccupation with this particular subject?

In 1939, Britain and France were major imperial powers, the USA were still digging their way out of a home-made depression, Germany was trying to reconsolidate herself at the expense of some of her neighbours, and the Soviet Union loomed in the background. A mere six years later, the erstwhile empires were gone or nearly so, Germany was devastated materially, politically, and spiritually, but the Soviet Union had advanced its sway some 500 miles to the west, and for all intents and purposes the USA occupied the rest of Europe.

This was not at all the situation Britain had envisioned when she declared war on Germany after the German invasion of Poland, but, if we are to believe the authors of this book, it corresponded very closely to a picture which Rudolf Hess, after his daring and tragically unsuccessful flight to Scotland, repeatedly outlined to his captors as a possibility to be avoided at all costs. Even if the details of the proposals Hess had taken along on his flight are still locked away or lost forever, this outline matches perfectly the German assessment of the political situation of the day. Churchill, by himself, without even consulting his cabinet, refused to accept such arguments and brushed aside whatever Hess had proposed.

The question which is looming large behind the 500 pages of this well-researched book (and also behind the many others written on this subject) is why Churchill was so adamant in his negative attitude, whether he was aware of the possibly horrible consequences of his position, and to what extent he condoned the scenario that he was conjuring up. These are questions of political morality and in a way it would seem that the incessant preoccupation of British authors with our subject reflects the unease they are feeling with respect to major and in the end catastrophic decisions taken in their name and over their heads by less than a handful of people in Whitehall.

The authors of Double Standards" devote several pages to a discussion of the tragedies on all sides that could have been avoided if Hess' mission had been a success. With a marvellously tongue-in-cheek attitude they also consider, side by side, the kind of Europe that, in 1941, would have resulted from a reasonable peace, and the political structure we see emerging today in the same geographical area, finding little to choose between the two.

Such, then, is the backdrop against which the scenes of this tragedy are played out. Fate has it that once the two mighty monarchies confront each other across the perilous narrow ocean, there ensues an inexorable march to doom despite the courageous efforts of many noble souls on either side; there is a climax at which point the scales could have been tipped either way, there is the terrible act where the battle's lost and won, and there is the pitiful finale, with murders most foul and ghosts that will not go away.

In their description of Rudolf Hess, the four authors, like so many captains, bear him to centre stage and seem to say that, had he been put on, he would have proved most royal. With this regard it matters but little whether his final resting place is at Wunsiedel, next to his parents, or in Scottish soil, next to the poor fellows who may have crashed with him on Eagles Rock.


How much do you know about world war 2?   July 28, 2005
 10 out of 14 found this review helpful

This book presents a convincing case that Rudolf Hess died in a plane crash en route from Scotland to Sweden in 1942 and that the "Rudolf Hess" jailed in Spandau was a brainwashed, mind-controlled double, who was assassinated on orders of the British government shortly before he was due to be released in 1987.

I would say this is worth reading in conjunction with Albert Speer's Spandau: the Secret Diaries. In that book Speer tells of the "blatant madness", memory lapses and bizarre statements (e.g. "I'm not the man I used to be") of the prisoner thought to be Rudolf Hess. Anyone familiar with MKUltra will be familiar with the name of Dr Donald Ewen Cameron, who happened to be "Rudolf Hess"'s psychiatrist at Nuremburg.

The book also contains interesting information about the rise of the Nazis and of how British high society was impressed with Nazi ideology and of how America came to be involved in the war.


The whole story doesn't hold together   November 17, 2008
Imagine that - sometime in 2002 - Vice President Cheney flew to the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan with the intent to open direct negotiations with Usama bin Laden to end the conflict between the US and al Qaeda. Then imagine that - instead of trumpeting the news around the world - UBL only kept Cheney incommunicado for years.

Seems improbable, doesn't it?

Well, that is exactly what happened in May of 1941. Rudolph Hess - at the time Adolph Hitler's notional right-hand man who carried the title Deputy Fuehrer - flew to the United Kingdom, bailing out over Scotland. After his almost immediate apprehension, he acted and made statements seeming to imply that he was expected by one or more members of Scottish nobility. Within hours of his arrival Hess was locked away from public view and nothing more was known until he appeared as a defendant at the initial war crimes trials in Nuremburg, Germany. There, he appeared to be mentally unstable, at times alternating between near-catatonia, rambling incoherency and acute mental clarity. Sentenced to life imprisonment, Hess was - at the time of his death - the only remaining detainee. After his death - which was ruled a suicide - the prison where he was held was demolished and the land diverted to other uses. A rather shocking action in light of the fact that the Fuehrerbunker - admittedly underground but still capable of access - and Gestapo headquarters - now a memorial and visitation site - remained.

"So", as we Americans say. "What's up?"

The authors contend the following:

1.There was a large and active "peace-party" in the UK before and during World War Two that sought, first, to avoid was with Germany and, having failed at that, sought to end the war. Key to this was commonalities between Germany and the UK in the areas of racial-cultural superiority, anti-Semitism and anti-communism. This peace-party included many of the upper class and nobility, possibly even into the upper reaches of the Royal Family.

2.There was active and ongoing communication between "like-minded" individuals in both countries that included members of the government (though not Winston Churchill).

3.Hess's flight was planned by both sides to open negotiations for a cessation of fighting but was kept at arm's length via intermediaries so that both sides would be able to evoke plausible denial.

4.The plan went awry and Hess fell into the hands of Churchill, who was able to use his captive as a mallet to crush the "peace-party" and any mention of supposed purpose for Hess; mission. Instead, both sides relegated Hess to nut-case status.

5.In order to assure Hess never spoke the truth, he was either kept drugged for the next 50 odd years or a fake Hess was created - the real one having died in a plane crash that killed a member of the Royal family - who also was prevented from speaking. In the end, one or the other was killed due to concerns the truth might come out.

`Double Standards' is a very high quality conspiracy theory story that contains much valid and documented proof. There were elements in the UK that would have preferred no war with Germany that did have power. In fact, there are indications that in the weeks immediately after Dunkirk, efforts were underway to depose Churchill and replace him with a PM more amenable to negotiations. It's pretty clear from this book and others on the topic that Hess knew whom he wanted to meet and certainly believed/assumed they would be open to the subject. And, there are many other more-or-less verifiable facts that - when woven into the storyline - make it all seem logical.

Until you get to Prisoner Number Seven - Hess' designation at the Nuremburg Trial and during his incarceration at Spandau Prison - being killed after 50 years to keep the truth hidden. Why would those in power - then and now - risk the story coming out by keeping this man - the real Hess or the doppelganger - alive when his death could have been arranged so easily?

It calls the whole story into question and leaves it as little more than a better written and referenced version of stories like Roswell, the Kennedy assassination or FDR knowing about Pearl Harbor in advance.