Drawing on a wide range of British and foreign archival sources, this book tackles the role of Parliament in the conduct of eighteenth-century foreign policy, the impact of this policy on parliamentary politics, and the quality of parliamentary debates. It is also an important study for our assessment of eighteenth-century Britain, and also, more generally, for an understanding of the role of contingency in the assessment of political systems. Reflecting over a quarter-century of work on parliamentary sources, the book highlights the influence of Parliament, positive and negative, direct and indirect, on foreign policy and politics. It also has great contemporary relevance as we consider the effectiveness of democratic states when confronting authoritarian rivals, and the rights of representative bodies to be consulted before wars are launched.

A scholarly study of the British Parliament's role in foreign policy during the eighteenth century.

About the Author
Jeremy Black MBE is Professor of History at the University of Exeter.

Reviews
'This is a first-rate work of scholarship and discusses a topic that has for too long been sidetracked.' Contemporary Review



Book Information
ISBN 9780521540766
Author Jeremy Black
Format Paperback
Page Count 276
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 421g
Dimensions(mm) 225mm * 153mm * 16mm