Book Review: British Foreign Policy in the Inter-War Years
| Date | 01 December 1955 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070205501000409 |
| Published date | 01 December 1955 |
| Author | W. W. Piepenburg |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
BOOK
REVIEWS
THE
STRUGGLE
FOR
MASTERY
IN
EUROPE,
1848-1918. By
A.
J.
P.
Taylor.
1955.
(London,
Toronto:
Oxford.
xxxvi,
638pp.
$6.00)
The
present
volume,
with the
exception
of
a brief
and
valu-
able
introductory
survey
of
the
war
potential
of
the
Great
Powers,
is
largely
concerned
with
the
diplomatic
history
of
the
period
under
review.
The
collisions
and
alignments
of
the
Great
Powers
are traced
with
unfailing
clarity,
literary
colour,
and
marked
independence
of
judgment.
The
political
ideas
and
economic
forces
which
shaped
day to day
diplomacy
are,
how-
ever,
often
submerged
by
the
steady
flow
of
narrative
history.
The
new
difficulties
and
opportunities created
for
diplomacy
by
the
advance
of
political
democracy, of
popular
education,
and
of
the
techniques
of
mass
communication
also
receive small
atten-
tion.
The
more
specialized
works of
the
author
have
demons-
trated
the
verve
and
realism
which
he
can
bring
to
the
study
of
these
relatively
neglected
themes.
It
is
to
be
hoped
that
his
findings
will
be
progressively
incorporated
into
subsequent
edi-
tions
of
this
vigorous
and scholarly
book.
McGill
University
C.
C.
BAYLEY
BRITISH
FOREIGN
POLICY
IN
THE
INTER-WAR
YEARS.
By
P.
A.
Reynolds.
1954.
(Toronto:
Longmans,
Green.
xi, 182pp.
$2.50)
Professor
Reynolds
of
the
University
College
of
Wales
does
not
aim
with
this
small book
to
present
a
complete
account
or
a
new
interpretation
of
his subject,
but
to
provide
for the
general
reader
and
the
beginning
university
student
an
accurate
history
of
British
foreign
policy
and
the
factors
that
determined
the
character
of
that
policy
during
the
period
1919-39.
Those
who
read
this
account
will
admire
the
author's
skill
in
achieving
his
aim. The necessity
to
be
brief
does
not
affect
either the
ac-
curacy
of
the
narrative
or
the author's
ability
to
convey some-
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