Six Moments of Crisis: Inside British Foreign Policy
Gill Bennett possesses a very special gift. She can make old documents live and breathe. In this fine study she takes us into Number 10 and the Cabinet room and we are literally transported - we can see and hear the people, feel the tension, and hear the arguments. Peter Hennessy Well informed and deeply researched. International Affairs Concisely written, authoritative and gripping. The Tablet ...impressive. This is a portrait of a formerly great power wrestling with decline. Douglas Hurd, the New Statesman Bennett's book is a living example of the importance of history, not just in the context of how and why these decisions were made, but in providing a guide to the complex, and at times misleading phrase: 'lessons of history'. Keith Simpson, Total Politics Fascinating. Philip Stephens, the Financial Times [A] masterly study... Besides providing many insights into leading policy-makers, Gill Bennett covers six major 'moments of crisis' spread over a period of more than 30 years in only 175 pages of text without ever oversimplifying. Her book is both a very good read and admirably succinct. Christopher Andrew, Literary Review A wonderful text for the student of international relations, whom it will immunise against infection by arcane concepts and theories that bear little relation to the real world. It is, moreover, beautifully written and an object lesson for academics in history and the social sciences. Vernon Bogdanor, Times Higher Education Supplement Understanding, and learning from, history can sometimes mean the awareness of long-term trends and patterns. Yet there is also value in looking at the specific circumstances in which particular decisions were taken: the assumptions on which they were based, the arguments that were used, and the concerns of the individual people involved in taking them. For this, Gill Bennett's book is a unique and valuable tool. Sir Paul Lever, RUSI Journal [T]his book successfully plunges readers into the historical moment and reminds them that foreign policy is, as Attlee noted, about human beings making important decisions on imperfect knowledge in a limited time (p. 21). Jamie Gaskarth, University of Plymouth