This book is the first of its kind: a historical inquiry into the family life of British diplomats between 1945 and 1990. It examines the ways in which the British Diplomatic Service reacted to and were influenced by the radical social changes that took place in Britain during the latter half of the twentieth century.

Sara Hiorns is a historian of modern Britain with a special interest in the social and cultural history of the British Foreign Office.

Introduction. 1. 1945 - 1958. Part I: Diplomatic Service families at the time of the Second World War. Part II: Family life in Britain after the Second World War. Part III: The culture of separation. Chapter 2: 1958 - 1971. Part I: The Plowden Report. Part II: Youth culture, counterculture, third culture: the Diplomatic Service family during the "swinging sixties". Part III: The Third "Concessionary" Journey. 3: 1972 - 1984. Part I: Diplomatic wives and feminism. Part II: Children's voices. Part III: Diplomatic Families and global threat. 4: 1985 - 1990. Part I: Plus ca change, diplomatic family life in the late 1980s. Part II: A change of attitude. Part III: The making of the transnational elite. Conclusion.