The Search for Peace

Contrary to the claim that a diplomat is paid to lie for his country, former Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd contends that from Machievelli to Metternich, from Sir Edward Grey to Boutros-Boutros Ghali, a top diplomat's main function is the genuine search for peace. His chronological narrative of the international affairs of the 20th century focuses on the lead-up to World War I, the peace of 1919 and its failure, the build-up to the 1939-45 war, the post-war settlement to Suez, the United Nations and the Congo, Kissinger and Vietnam, and the war in Bosnia.