Overview

Cocktails, Crises and Cockroaches is a spirited account of an unconventional career in the Foreign Office from the closing months of World War II until towards the end of the Cold War. The realities and flavours of diplomatic life – with all its frustrations, risks and comedy – are interwoven with the local colour of different overseas assignments and of the Foreign Office itself. James Reeve’s diplomatic trail is set during a turbulent period. He served in a number of postings, while the international politics of the post-war world were being formed: in Iran during the Musaddiq era, when Britain severed diplomatic relations; in New York at the time of the first meeting of the UN General Assembly; in Washington during the Suez crisis; in Southeast Asia while it appeared threatened by an apparently expansionist China; in West Germany during its ‘economic miracle’; and in Libya as Gadaffi launched his revolution. Against this varied background and the overarching security and intelligence problems of the Cold War, Reeve describes a series of more personal episodes and experiences. Travelling with a tribal leader in Iran, a midnight SOS from a blackmailed Latin American female diplomat, hill tribes and opium smuggling in the Golden Triangle - these and many other episodes drawn from a dozen foreign assignments add spice to Reeve’s memoirs.

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9781860644450

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Reviews

A spirited account of an unconventional career in the Diplomatic and Consular Services from the end of World War II to near the end of the Cold War. The author paints a well-rounded picture of the day-to-day work of a diplomat in which the realities and flavours of diplomatic life - its frustrations, risks and absurdities as well as its occasional glamour and prestige - shine through. Above all it is a corrective to the old caricature of the Diplomatic Service as a pampered elite, a view no longer sustainable in a world transformed by the wind-down of empire, the exigencies of the Cold War and the growing pressure on diplomats to be salesmen for British exports; and least of all if you served, as the author did, in 'hot spots' like Iran during the Iranian oil crisis of 1951, or in Libya in 1969 when Colonel Gadhafi seized power. (Kirkus UK)

Author Information

James Reeve was awarded the CMG in 1982 after a post-war career in the Diplomatic Service spanning almost 40 years and three continents.

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