Just Finished Reading: Getting Our Way – 500 Years of Adventure and Intrigue: The Inside Story of British Diplomacy by Christopher Meyer (FP: 2009)

Told in rather florid style by the former ambassador to the US based in Washington (as he often references throughout the test) this is actually a pretty fascinating insight into British diplomatic efforts throughout the world since Elizabethan times. Most of the focus, however, is after the Napoleonic Wars with the British influence over the Congress of Vienna that (largely) settled European affairs between the fall of Napoleon and the start of the First World War. Divided into three sections – Security, Prosperity and Values – this book looks at the three pillars of diplomacy in turn and picks out examples where the British ambassador on the ground attempted, not always successfully, to achieve each of them for his (and all the examples are male) masters back home in London.

Being a fan of European history (as you may have noticed) I was particularly interested in the section covering the political aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars which was, until then, something of a mystery to me. I knew *of* the Congress of Vienna but very little about it. I shall be digging into this more later. Naturally we were coming into this event from a great position of strength (which helped greatly) so our influence was correspondingly strong. It was interesting however how the congress was radically different from, and how far more effective in outcome, they were from the century later Versailles Treaty negotiations. It’s a shame that some of the format of the former was not transferred to the later. Imagine a world without World War Two!

My favourite section – warts and all – was on Prosperity which concentrated on our relations with China and covered the Opium Wars, gunboat diplomacy and the retreat from Hong Kong where we most definitely were negotiating from a severe position of weakness. The double dealing and outright bullying – never mind that it was all over the *forced* importation of opium! – of the British in the Opium Wars was astounding. How those people slept at night is beyond me. Much more on our relations with China to come (and fairly soon).

Lastly another section I enjoyed greatly was based around ‘The Great Game’ between the Russian and British Empire’s fought out – sometimes literally in the Ottoman Empire and especially Constantinople/Istanbul. Again it’s something I’m aware of happening without appreciating the details. Careers and reputations were both made and destroyed in those secretive and tumultuous times. Some of the events read like an early version of James Bond, they really do! Again much more of this fascinating history later.

Overall, apart from a few niggles and annoyances with the narrative, this was a pretty good introduction to what diplomats do and what some famous (and infamous) British diplomats have done over the preceding centuries. Interesting and recommended to anyone looking for insights to what happens behind closed doors in smoke filled rooms.