Baffy The Diaries of Blanche Dugdale 1936-1947

Blanche ‘Baffy’ Dugdale was Arthur James Balfour's niece and his official biographer. She was also a lifelong friend and confidante of Chaim Weizmann, the world-renowned Zionist leader. Privy to an abundance of top-drawer political contacts, Baffy straddled both these worlds, that of the idiosyncrasies of upper-class English politics, and that of a resurgent Jewish nationalism. In this manner, Baffy, playing a behind-the-scenes role, witnessed, and with shrewd insight, commented upon, some of the most dramatic events of the years her diaries cover, 1936–1947. Little of consequence escaped her discerning eye: the Abdication crisis; the Peel partition proposals; the Munich agreement; the May 1939 White Paper; the course of the war and the first news of the Holocaust; the post-war struggle for a Jewish state; and finally, and for Baffy triumphantly, the establishment of the State of Israel. These are some of the tumultuous events Baffy recorded in her detailed, pertinent, and often provocative style. Her diaries offer us a document of genuine historical interest, granting us an invaluable insider's glimpse into the controversial world of politics, domestic and international.

Blanche "Baffy" Dugdale was a British author and Zionist. Norman Rose was born in London and later emigrated to Israel. He lived on a kibbutz for several years and served in the Israeli army. He graduated from the London School of Economics and joined the Faculty of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. He retired as Chaim Weizmann Professor of International Relations and was elected Fellow of Royal Historical Society.