This volume is devoted to the shaping of British foreign and defence policymaking in the twentieth century and illustrates why it's relatively easy for states to lose their way as they grope for a safe passage forward when confronted by mounting international crises and the antics of a few desperate men.

Introduction 1.Professor David Neville Dilks, MA (Oxon), FRHistS, FRSL (1938-): An Appreciation From Afar; Malcolm H. Murfett 2. The British Empire's Image of East Asia, 1900-41: Politics, Ideology and International Order; Antony Best 3. The Struggle to Maintain Locarno Diplomacy: Britain and the Idea of a Political Truce in 1931; Frank Magee 4. 'Leaving us in the lurch': The British Government, the First DRC Enquiry and the United States, 1933-34; Peter Bell 5. Chamberlain, the British Army and the 'Continental Commitment'; George Peden 6. Eden, the Foreign Office and the 'German Problem', 1935-38; Geoff Waddington 7. Harold Nicolson and Appeasement; John Young 8. Another Jewel Forsaken: the Role of Singapore in British Foreign and Defence Policy, 1919-1968; Malcolm H. Murfett 9. Quadruple Failure? The British-American Split over Collective Security in Southeast Asia, 1963-1966; Brian P. Farrell 10. GCHQ and UK Computer Policy: Teddy Poulden, ICL and IBM; Richard Aldrich