Keith Neilson is Professor of History at the Royal Military College of Canada, Ontario. His previous publications include Britain and the Last Tsar. The Russian Factor in British Policy, 1894–1917 (1995) and, with Zara Steiner, Britain and the Origins of the First World War (2003).

"This elegantly written and tightly organized study combines particular and general concerns in an interesting way...Neilson has produced a thoughtful and perceptive study that will be read with profit by those interested in international relations as well as by diplomatic historians." Martin Ceadel, American Historical Review

• Introduction; 1. The period of persuasion: British strategic foreign policy and Soviet Russia, 1919–33; 2. 1933–4: parallel interests?; 3. A clash of sensibilities: January to June 1935; 4. Complications and choices: July 1935–February 1936; 5. Soviet Russian assertiveness: February 1936–July 1937; 6. Chamberlain's interlude: May 1937–September 1938; 7. Chamberlain as Buridan's ass: October 1938–September 1939; Conclusion.

Keith Neilson is Professor of History at the Royal Military College of Canada, Ontario. His previous publications include Britain and the Last Tsar. The Russian Factor in British Policy, 1894–1917 (1995) and, with Zara Steiner, Britain and the Origins of the First World War (2003).

"This elegantly written and tightly organized study combines particular and general concerns in an interesting way...Neilson has produced a thoughtful and perceptive study that will be read with profit by those interested in international relations as well as by diplomatic historians." Martin Ceadel, American Historical Review

• Introduction; 1. The period of persuasion: British strategic foreign policy and Soviet Russia, 1919–33; 2. 1933–4: parallel interests?; 3. A clash of sensibilities: January to June 1935; 4. Complications and choices: July 1935–February 1936; 5. Soviet Russian assertiveness: February 1936–July 1937; 6. Chamberlain's interlude: May 1937–September 1938; 7. Chamberlain as Buridan's ass: October 1938–September 1939; Conclusion.

Keith Neilson is Professor of History at the Royal Military College of Canada, Ontario. His previous publications include Britain and the Last Tsar. The Russian Factor in British Policy, 1894–1917 (1995) and, with Zara Steiner, Britain and the Origins of the First World War (2003).

"This elegantly written and tightly organized study combines particular and general concerns in an interesting way...Neilson has produced a thoughtful and perceptive study that will be read with profit by those interested in international relations as well as by diplomatic historians." Martin Ceadel, American Historical Review

• Introduction; 1. The period of persuasion: British strategic foreign policy and Soviet Russia, 1919–33; 2. 1933–4: parallel interests?; 3. A clash of sensibilities: January to June 1935; 4. Complications and choices: July 1935–February 1936; 5. Soviet Russian assertiveness: February 1936–July 1937; 6. Chamberlain's interlude: May 1937–September 1938; 7. Chamberlain as Buridan's ass: October 1938–September 1939; Conclusion.