This study both provides a coherent and comprehensive account of British foreign policy during a period that was crucial for the development of Britain as a major power. It uses the study of the factors that played a major role in the formation and execution of foreign policy in order to throw fresh light on the British state, its means of operation and the political culture of the period. The book is divided into two sections - analytical and narrative. The first offers a thematic analysis of British foreign policy, paying especial attention to - the role of Parliament and the influence of the Crown but also considering such factors as strategic problems, the role of trade, the influence of public opinion and the nature of the press coverage of foreign affairs. The second section covers the period from the accession of Charles II to Britain's entry into the French Revolutionary War.
Jeremy Black is an English historian, who was formerly a professor of history at the University of Exeter. He is a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of America and the West at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US. Black is the author of over 180 books, principally but not exclusively on 18th-century British politics and international relations, and has been described by one commentator as "the most prolific historical scholar of our age". He has published on military and political history, including Warfare in the Western World, 1882–1975 (2001) and The World in the Twentieth Century (2002).
Quite liked the structure of this book (1st part dedicated to structural considerations the 'system' so to speak, and the 2nd part directed at the course)
Only downside is, having read a lot about the 2nd part, including other work from Black, the 2nd bit was derivative of a lot of his other stuff. Which isn't really a downside but means I can't really consider it '5*'