A History Of British Foreign Policy

A History of British Foreign Policy (1938)
Ian C. Hannah – Nicholson & Watson
ISBN: blissfully pre-ISBN
Condition: Good (in the stoic, stiff-upper-lip sense)
Vendor: Crappy Old Books

Step right up for a guided tour of Britain’s foreign policy… as explained in 1938, when everyone was still insisting things might somehow work out.

In this stout little volume Ian C. Hannah surveys centuries of imperial eyebrow-raising, treaty-signing and strategic tea-drinking, all from the vantage point of that charmingly awkward moment just before the world fell to pieces. Written on the very brink of the Second World War, it’s an unintentionally tense read: every calm, confident sentence feels like someone saying, “What’s the worst that could happen?” in the first ten minutes of a disaster film.

Inside you’ll find:

• Great Power diplomacy conducted at a walking pace, preferably in morning dress.

• Earnest discussions of “the balance of power” by a nation busily juggling lit torches in a gunpowder shed.

• Cheerful references to empires and protectorates which have since taken the hint and left the party.

• That special pre-war optimism in which “negotiation” meant “have we tried sending another memo?”

This Good copy is exactly the sort of book you’d expect from a place called Crappy Old Books:
the boards are doing their duty, the pages are all present and accounted for, and any minor scuffs, bumps or foxing simply add to the authentic “found in a retired civil servant’s study” aesthetic. It looks like it has been read carefully, put back on the shelf, and occasionally consulted when someone needed to win an argument about Palmerston.

Perfect for:

• Anyone who thinks British foreign policy is confusing now and would like proof that this is, in fact, a proud tradition.

• History nerds who enjoy shouting “Oh no, don’t do that” at books.

• Writers, students and doom-scrolling realists who want to see how a well-meaning 1938 author framed the world just before it changed for good.

“A History of British Foreign Policy” is not just a history book; it’s a time capsule from the last calm sip of tea before the storm. Pick it up from Crappy Old Books, where our motto might as well be: “We sell the past, slightly worn but structurally sound – much like British foreign policy itself.”

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