Robert Self - Böcker

Foreign policy has dominated successive governments' time in office and cast a consistently long shadow over British politics in the period since 1945. Robert Self provides a readable and incisive assessment of the key issues and events from the retreat from empire through the cold war period to Humanitarian Intervention and the debacle in Iraq.

Foreign policy has dominated successive governments' time in office and cast a consistently long shadow over British politics in the period since 1945. Robert Self provides a readable and incisive assessment of the key issues and events from the retreat from empire through the cold war period to Humanitarian Intervention and the debacle in Iraq.

This volume throws important new light upon a pivotal period of transition in the Anglo-American relationship and sets the stage for its equally dramatic transformation during and after the Second World War. Based upon extensive research in previously unpublished archival material on both sides of the Atlantic, for the first time this book offers a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the war debt problem from its origins at the end of the First World War until its final removal with the launch of Roosevelt's Lend-Lease programme in 1940-41. This work will be of great interest to diplomats and journalists, as well as to students and scholars of political, diplomatic, economic and international history.

This volume throws important new light upon a pivotal period of transition in the Anglo-American relationship and sets the stage for its equally dramatic transformation during and after the Second World War. Based upon extensive research in previously unpublished archival material on both sides of the Atlantic, for the first time this book offers a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the war debt problem from its origins at the end of the First World War until its final removal with the launch of Roosevelt's Lend-Lease programme in 1940-41. This work will be of great interest to diplomats and journalists, as well as to students and scholars of political, diplomatic, economic and international history.

History has not looked kindly upon Neville Chamberlain. Despite a long and distinguished political career, his trip to Munich in 1938 and the 'appeasement' of Hitler have forever overshadowed his many other achievements and blighted his reputation, his name now synonymous with the futility of trying to reason with dictators and bullies. Yet, as this biography shows, there is much more to this complex and intriguing character than is generally supposed, and even the infamous events of 1938 are open to more charitable interpretations than is usually the case. Appeasement brought the British government crucial time in which to rearm, and in particular allowed the RAF to drastically increase the number of fighter aircraft it could muster for the Battle of Britain during the summer of 1940. Based on the study of over 150 collections of private papers on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as exhaustive exploration of British government records held in the National Archives, it is no exaggeration to say that the author has surveyed virtually all the existing archival material written by or to Chamberlain, as well as a high proportion of that referring to him. As such, this volume will no doubt establish itself as the definitive account of Chamberlain's life and career, and provide a much fuller and fairer picture of his actions than has hitherto been the case.

This book explores the process by which defence policy is made in contemporary Britain and the institutions, actors and conflicting interests which interact in its inception and continuous reformulation.Rather than dealing with the substance of defence policy, this study focuses upon the institutional actors involved in this process. This is a subject which has commanded far more interest from public, Parliament, government and the armed forces since the protracted, bloody and ultimately unsuccessful British military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. The work begins with a discussion of two contextual factors shaping policy. The first relates to the impact of Britain’s ‘special relationship’ with the United States over defence and intelligence matters, while the second considers the impact of Britain’s relatively disappointing economic performance upon the funding of British defence since 1945. It then goes on to explore the role and impact of all the key policy actors, from the Prime Minister, Cabinet and core executive, to the Ministry of Defence and its relations with the broader ‘Whitehall village’, and the Foreign Office and Treasury in particular. The work concludes by examining the increasing influence of external policy actors and forces, such as Parliament, the courts, political parties, pressure groups and public opinion.This book will be of much interest to students of British defence policy, security studies, and contemporary military history.

This book explores the process by which defence policy is made in contemporary Britain and the institutions, actors and conflicting interests which interact in its inception and continuous reformulation.Rather than dealing with the substance of defence policy, this study focuses upon the institutional actors involved in this process. This is a subject which has commanded far more interest from public, Parliament, government and the armed forces since the protracted, bloody and ultimately unsuccessful British military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. The work begins with a discussion of two contextual factors shaping policy. The first relates to the impact of Britain’s ‘special relationship’ with the United States over defence and intelligence matters, while the second considers the impact of Britain’s relatively disappointing economic performance upon the funding of British defence since 1945. It then goes on to explore the role and impact of all the key policy actors, from the Prime Minister, Cabinet and core executive, to the Ministry of Defence and its relations with the broader ‘Whitehall village’, and the Foreign Office and Treasury in particular. The work concludes by examining the increasing influence of external policy actors and forces, such as Parliament, the courts, political parties, pressure groups and public opinion.This book will be of much interest to students of British defence policy, security studies, and contemporary military history.

This book offers an in-depth analysis of the failures of the UK’s defence acquisition and procurement process, and the broader ramifications for the UK’s national security.The UK’s record on defence acquisition and procurement constitutes one of the biggest British public policy scandals of the modern era - albeit one largely concealed from voters and taxpayers. Its recent history is characterised by high levels of incompetence, weak governance and a lack of proper accountability; defects compounded by a ‘conspiracy of optimism’ that things will turn out differently simply through the power of wishful thinking. Focusing largely on events since 1997, this book provides the first detailed assessment of the failures of this period and compares them with the performance of overseas counterparts, such as the United States, France, Australia and Canada. By focusing on a wide variety of expensive and technically disastrous case studies across all services and domains, the book seeks to highlight some of the key lessons that recent history has provided about the complex network of interrelated factors that have led to so many disappointments and failures in British military procurement. As such it demonstrates how these problems have affected UK national security and its military and diplomatic standing in a volatile and uncertain world.This book will be of much interest to students of British politics, defence studies, strategic studies and International Relations

As a primary source of historical evidence and insight, it is difficult to overstate the value and importance of Neville Chamberlain's diary letters to his sisters. They represent the most complete and illuminating 'insider' record of British politics between the wars yet to be published. From 1915 Chamberlain wrote detailed weekly epistles to his sisters until his death in 1940; a confidential account of events covering the quarter of a century during which he stood at the very centre of Conservative and national politics. Beyond the fascination of the historical record of people and events, these letters are extremely valuable for the remarkable light they throw upon the personality and character of the private man lurking behind the austerely forbidding public persona.

As a primary source of historical evidence and insight, it is difficult to overstate the value and importance of Neville Chamberlain's diary letters to his sisters. They represent the most complete and illuminating 'insider' record of British politics between the wars yet to be published. From 1915 Chamberlain wrote detailed weekly epistles to his sisters until his death in 1940; a confidential account of events covering the quarter of a century during which he stood at the very centre of Conservative and national politics. Beyond the fascination of the historical record of people and events, these letters are extremely valuable for the remarkable light they throw upon the personality and character of the private man lurking behind the austerely forbidding public persona.