The compelling essays brought together in this collection provide new assessments of the course of British foreign policy from the Glorious Revolution to the Treaty of Maastricht in 1991, its underlying principles as well as Britain's standing in international politics. The essays examine these issues through the prism of the personalities of those Foreign Secretaries and Prime Ministers who had a major impact on the course and conduct of British foreign policy, from the elder Pitt in the eighteenth century to Margaret Thatcher at the end of the twentieth. This collection of essays offers a powerful challenge to many traditional assumptions about Britain's decline as a great power, her imperial and continental commitments, and the contentious issue of 'Europe'.

Preface Acknowledgements Notes on the Contributors 'It's What Made Britain Great': Reflections on British Foreign Policy, from Malplaquet to Maastricht; T.G.Otte Pitt the Elder and the Foundation of an Imperial Foreign Policy; J.Black Castlereagh, 1812-1822; C.J.Bartlett Palmerston: Artful Dodger or 'Babe of Grace'?; J.Charmley Floating Downstream? Lord Salisbury and British Foreign Policy, 1878-1902; T.G.Otte Control the Whirlwind: Sir Edward Grey as Foreign Secretary, 1906-1916; K.Neilson Austen Chamberlain; R.S.Grayson Rat in Power: Neville Chamberlain and the Creation of British Foreign Policy, 1931-1939; G.Kennedy Ernest Bevin: Reluctant Cold Warrior; S.Greenwood Anthony Eden; D.Dutton A Rear Guard Action: Harold Macmillan and the Making of British Foreign Policy, 1957-1963; N.J.Ashton British Foreign Policy under Margaret Thatcher; P.Sharp Index