Bernard Hutton's book is dedicated to Rudolf Hess, the Fuhrer's closest friend and party deputy, who in May 1941, a month before the German war machine fell on the Soviet Union, set off from an airfield near Munich on a flight to the British Isles. His secret goal was to discuss the possibility of concluding a peace treaty between England and Germany. A few hours later, he became a prisoner of local self-defense fighters in the Scottish Highlands. Based on secret archival materials, the author - a convinced anti-fascist - restores Hess's life path and character, reflects on the reasons for the failure of his mission, describes the years of solitary confinement in Spandau, which lasted until the end of his days in secret " peacemaker." The book contains rare photographs of Hess and his entourage.