Overview

The long history of Anglo-Greek relations has deservedly attracted much attention. One of its most controversial - yet least explored - phases was that spanning the Greek Colonels' seven-year military junta, from 1967-74. Drawing on a corpus of diverse, original and largely primary material, Maragkou provides a comprehensive analysis of British policy towards Greece during this tumultuous era. Not only does she contribute to the historiography of Anglo- Greek relations, but her book also serves as a case study of British foreign policy within the Cold War. And by demonstrating that national history can be best understood by analysing the relationship between a nation state and factors beyond its control, the conclusions drawn can be applied beyond the strictly regional or the exclusively bi- lateral, as they also fit into a transnational para- digm. It was in the 1960s when what we now term 'globalisation' was in full swing. Henceforward, no nation - and no foreign office - was an is- land: it was part of a whole, in which both state and non-state actors internationally played their part in the evolution of thinking on foreign affairs. Here is the key to understanding the tortuous history of Britain and the Greek Colonels - one that has many echoes in our own time.

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9781849043656

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Reviews

'An amply researched monograph covering an important period of Anglo-Greek relations. Maragkou deftly presents the dilemmas and tasks facing three successive British governments during the period of Greece's military dictatorship, and addresses the perennial conflict between pragmatism and principles.' -- I.D. Stefanidis, Professor of Diplomatic History, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

'Maragkou tells a good story based on fairly recently released Foreign Office papers and numerous interviews with now elderly participants in the policy and diplomatic processes.' -- Times Literary Supplement 'This is an illuminating book that describes vividly democratic Britain's pragmatic foreign policy vis-a-vis the Greek military junta. Based on rich archival work, it exposes the limitations of realpolitik in action.' -- Othon Anastasakis, Director of South East European Studies at Oxford 'An amply researched monograph covering an important period of Anglo-Greek relations. Maragkou deftly presents the dilemmas and tasks facing three successive British governments during the period of Greece's military dictatorship, and addresses the perennial conflict between pragmatism and principles.' -- I.D. Stefanidis, Professor of Diplomatic History, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Author Information

LSE Hellenic Observatory Series, K. Featherstone and D. Papadimitriou (eds) Konstantina Maragkou is a lecturer in History at Yale University. She received her PhD and MPhil in History from the University of Cambridge and a BA in Modern History, Economic History and Politics from the University of London.

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