Danzig: A Novel of Political Intrigue (Wages of Appeasement). This item is unavailable.Danzig: A Novel of Political Intrigue (Wages of Appeasement)

October 25, 2023. Newly-edited corrected version. The looming menace of Nazi oppression hung like a dark cloud over the Free City of Danzig. Inspired by actual events, Danzig is a story of diplomatic conflict and political intrigue in Central Europe during the 1930’s. Richly atmospheric, it is gripping historical fiction in the grand tradition.

The Free City of Danzig was established by the Treaty of Versailles as a mandate to be protected by the League of Nations and its High Commissioner. In 1933, the Nazi party took control of Danzig and pursued a hostile and violent agenda aimed at overthrowing the League's High Commissioner and subverting its constitutional protections. Sean Lester, an Irish diplomat, was the League's High Commissioner and Paul Muller, a young man fresh from university, was his secretary during this tense period. The story portrays the roles played by Lester and Muller as repeated crises engulfed Danzig and high stakes confrontations led to diplomatic clashes and, finally, political betrayal. Their story vividly captures the struggle between rampant Nazi ascendency and the League’s mandate to preserve Danzig’s fragile democracy.

Through the eyes of Lester and Muller, from their perch at the epicenter of the Danzig conflict, we watch Hitler consolidating power and flexing growing German strength; we see Britain embracing a policy of feckless appeasement, unwilling to confront the looming German menace; and we are caught up in the hothouse atmosphere of a hesitant League of Nations, brimming with intrigue and infighting and ultimately failing to deliver on its promise of peace through diplomacy and collective security.

The story encompasses fast-paced events in Geneva, Berlin, Warsaw and London, as well as Danzig itself, capturing the drama of unfolding crisis that engulfed Europe in the 1930’s on what we now know was the path to war. This is a work of fiction, but aficionados of interwar novels will relish the authenticity of the narrative. Most of the story's characters were real people and the events described actually happened. Danzig brings them vividly back to life and invites readers to experience the drama of clashes within the Nazi leadership, rivalries among Western politicians pursuing competing agendas, and the lonely role of the League's High Commissioner trying to face down dangerous adversaries. It is a gripping tale in a fateful time: the struggle for the Free City of Danzig.

William N. Walker brings to his new novel a lifetime of experience as a diplomat, government official and international businessman. Mr. Walker was Ambassador and Chief Trade Negotiator for the United States in the Tokyo Round of Multilateral Trade negotiations conducted under the auspices of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in Geneva. He lived in Geneva for more than two years as the senior diplomat in residence and brings first-hand diplomatic knowledge to telling the story of Danzig. While the GATT was hardly the League of Nations, international organizations now, as then, are unwieldly and susceptible to the kinds of infighting and manipulation that we witness in the book. As a member of the Nixon Administration, Mr. Walker was also a close observer of the political intrigue that destroyed Nixon’s presidency. He was general counsel of two government agencies and was among the principal architects of the US government’s response to the Arab Oil Embargo. Later, he served as Director of the Presidential Personnel Office for President Ford. After leaving government, he became a partner in a large Wall Street law firm, running a successful international law practice. Later, he established a company, which he continues to operate, devoted to international business that has included transactions in Europe, the former Soviet Union, Turkey, Central Asia and the Middle East. He describes himself as a recovering attorney. Mr. Walker is an experienced base choir singer and he has performed many of the great works in the classical choral music repertoire, including those mentioned in the book. Mr. Walker is also an accomplished athlete. He signed a professional baseball contract with the Baltimore Orioles upon graduating from college. In law school, he co-founded the Virginia Rugby Club (he was inducted into the Virginia Rugby Union Hall of Fame in 2013) and then, after moving to Chicago, started what is now the famed Chicago Lion Rugby Football Club. He doesn’t play much tennis any longer but, he is a keen golfer and member of Winged Foot Golf Club (where he and his partner won the overall championship of the club-wide member’s tournament in 2013, a feat memorialized on a plaque in the Grill Room of that august institution). Mr. Walker is a winner of the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Wesleyan University. He is the father of three grown children and lives with his wife in New York City and neighboring Westchester County.