I reach for Meinkampf and begin to finger the pages cautiously. I’ve heard and read so much about Adolf Hitler. An unbelievable unifying leader but also an absolute butcher of the worst kind. A man with the ultimate plan. A man who would allow nothing to stand in the way of his world domination. He had ideas and ambitions rarely matched in the world since his rein.

Now what do our leaders aim for? Donald Trump wants to isolate the USA and make them ‘great’ again? I’m pretty sure they are better now than they were in the 50s and 60s. Boris Johnson doesn’t even seem to have a coherent plan.

Before I know it I’m in Hitlers house and I’m listening to his mother talk at him. There is no father around, just a mother struggling with young Adolf and his 3 brothers and sisters. He looks withdrawn and contemplative. He doesn’t socialise with his family but just sits there writing and planning furiously on his ripped sheets of paper. Is this where all that anger and hatred stems from? Does everything in our childhood determine who we become? Are we just following a pre-determined path that was laid by our parents in our formative years? Is anyone really evil or are they just reacting to their circumstances?

Suddenly we are in 1938 and the Kaiser is convincing British prime minister Neville Chamberlain that he has no ambitions to conquer other countries. Chamberlain stupidly defaults to truth and believes Hitler. A handshake sealed the deal for the gullible PM. We all know what happened next and many things can be learned from mistakes of our past and that’s where I am right now as I return the book and stroll slowly out of the antiques shop and forwards towards my own children and hopefully their untainted futures.