Books in the Contemporary History in Context series

After 1945, Britain maintained a great chain of overseas military outposts stretching from the Suez Canal to Singapore. This study provides the most comprehensive explanation of this pivotal decision to date, while also offering insight into the processes of foreign policy change and the decline of great powers.

This groundbreaking collection of essays challenges the notion that early postwar Britain was characterised by a consensus between the major political parties arising out of the experiences of the wartime coalition government.

In a new book about Northern Ireland historian Peter Rose argues that if Harold Wilson's government in the late sixties had pursued a different policy the province might have been spared The Troubles.

This book presents a radical reappraisal of British policy towards West German rearmament until the Federal Republic's incorporation into NATO and contains a series of major new theses on British attitudes towards European integration, Anglo-Soviet relations and the 'Special Relationship'.

British policy towards European integration has been one of the most divisive issues in British politics since 1945.

This book analyses the foreign policy of the United States towards Cambodia by examining the belief system of the key players. As an examination of US foreign policy within decision-making elites it makes a contribution to decision-making theory and foreign policy analysis as well as providing insights into regional politics.

This book is the first to concentrate on the British attempt to place the EEC within a larger Free Trade Area. The book therefore extends the debate by presenting a full historical analysis of Britain's response to the creation of the European Community.

This study provides a new archive-based account of the Cuban missile crisis, providing the first detailed and authoritative account from the British perspective. The book draws upon new British and US archival material and recent scholarship in the west and the former USSR.

This gap in perception gave rise to a 'crisis of interdependence' during the winter of 1962-3, encompassing issues as diverse as the collapse of the British EEC application, the civil war in the Yemen, the denouement of the Congo crisis and the fate of the British independent nuclear deterrent.

In arguing that Thatcher's attempt to reconcile economic liberalism with political nationalism in a more assertive foreign policy prefigured the emerging statecraft of post-Cold War great power politics, Paul Sharp demonstrates why studying her successes and failures offers an invaluable guide for policy-makers around the world today.

For thirty years the Labour Party was wracked by conflict over membership of the European Community, swinging back and forth, pro and anti, when in and out of office. It was a conflict that helped keep the party in opposition for eighteen years until it abandoned its socialist basis under New Labour.

The surrender of Hong Kong to the Japanese in December 1941 started the collapse of British power in the Far East. New light is shed on the multi-faceted Anglo-American relationship, the significance of Britain's 'imperial mentality', and China's claim to the colony.

In 1945 Britain was still a world power. Based throughout on newly accessible sources, the twelve chapters in this book analyse systematically Britain's foreign policy-making and its regional relationships in the world, thus providing the reader with a comprehensive overview of Britain's foreign relations during this crucial transition.

This groundbreaking collection of essays challenges the notion that early postwar Britain was characterised by a consensus between the major political parties arising out of the experiences of the wartime coalition government.

In a new book about Northern Ireland historian Peter Rose argues that if Harold Wilson's government in the late sixties had pursued a different policy the province might have been spared The Troubles.

The welfare state arouses controversy whether attention is focused on its recent past or future development. Leading experts in welfare history draw together the latest research in essays combining broad policy surveys and detailed case studies. The history of the British welfare state suggests that the traditional approach has been too narrow.

Exploring relationships between politics, the people and social change, this book assesses the fortunes mainly of Labour, but also of the Communist Party and the New Left in postwar Britain.

British policy towards European integration has been one of the most divisive issues in British politics since 1945.

New research by several leading political historians creates a detailed and diverse study of Anglo-American relations in the twentieth century.

This fresh look at the 1963 crisis in the western alliance following de Gaulle's veto of the British EEC application uses much new unpublished source material to offer a fascinating insight into the personal relationships of the western leaders.

Whilst there are any number of books on the subject of Northern Ireland, few provide much guidance on how it has been handled by Westminster and Whitehall, or indeed the extent to which British governments and Parliament has tried to avoid having to handle the issue.

Since 1945, Britain's political and cultural landscape has been transformed by social movements campaigning on issues of gender, race, disability, sexuality, the environment and peace.

This book presents a radical reappraisal of British policy towards West German rearmament until the Federal Republic's incorporation into NATO and contains a series of major new theses on British attitudes towards European integration, Anglo-Soviet relations and the 'Special Relationship'.

As with his critically acclaimed book on Suez, Keith Kyle revisits as a scholar ground that he first covered as a print and television journalist. After three introductory chapters covering the years 1895-1957, the core of the book examines in lively detail how Kenya moved from Mau Mau trauma to national freedom.