Getting Our Way

GETTING OUR WAY recounts nine stories from Britain's diplomatic annals over the last five hundred years, in which the diplomats themselves are at the centre of the narrative. It is an inside account of their extraordinary experiences, sometimes in the face of physical danger, often at history's hinge. Be it Henry Killigrew's mission to Edinburgh in 1572, Castlereagh at the Congress of Vienna, Our Man in Washington and the Nassau Deal, or the handover of Hong Kong to China, we can see how Britain has viewed its interests in the world and sought to advance them. Some of these dramatic episodes record triumph, some failure, but all of them illustrate how the three pillars of the national interest - security, prosperity and values - have been the foundation of British foreign policy for half a century. Each story is illuminated by colourful anecdotes and insights drawn from Christopher Meyer's first-hand experience of international relations. Moreover, the book is a salutary reminder that foreign policy and diplomacy begin and end with the national interest. And far from being the preserve of aloof aristocrats, the pursuit of our national interest is replete with an extraordinary combination of high principle and low cunning, vice and virtue, all with the specific aim of 'getting our way'.

ISBN 0753827166   Pages 320 ISBN13 9780753827161 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 312 Publisher Orion Publishing Co   Published in London Imprint Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd )   Height (mm) 198 Format Paperback   Width (mm) 129 Publication date 30 Sep 2010   Spine width (mm) 23 DEWEY 327.41009   Academic level General DEWEY edition DC22

'He writes well and his tone is engagingly sardonic...an admirable diplomatic primer.' -- Piers Brendon SUNDAY TIMES 'This enjoyable book, by Briatin's former ambassador to Washington, consists of nine finely drawn studies of key diplomatic moments in British history.' OBSERVER 'The former British ambassador to the US weaves an interesting tale of power, deception, betrayal, espionage, intrigue and cunning...a must-read book for any astute observer of modern diplomacy.' CATHOLIC HERALD

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