Dockrill looks at how British defence police has balanced the country's need to maintain the status of an independent nuclear power with its diminishing role in world politics. (Technology & Industrial)

Based on excerpts from original sources, this book provides an introduction to the controversies and dilemmas that have confronted those making and implementing British defence policy since the end of World War II. Ovendale explores the policy dilemmas caused by Britain's parallel commitments to continental Europe and to a global foreign policy, the legacy of her imperial past. He also examines the decision in 1957 to rely on the nuclear deterrent, abolish conscription and move away from a maritime strategy; and the role of the Treasury in dictating the limits of British defence policy.

This text provides a concise thematic introduction to the evolution of British defence policy since the end of the second world war

The object of defence policy, states Lord Carver, is to provide those who direct affairs with the greatest possible freedom of action in furthering the interests of the nation. In telling the story of British defence policy from VE-Day to the Gulf War and the collapse of Communism, he illustrates the key decisions which had the greatest influence on us as a nation. His narrative pinpoints the painful transitions involved in a long retreat from Empire, and the adjustments which have been made - some voluntarily, some under pressure - to take account of Britain's changing role in the world.