In the spring of 1954 the war in Vietnam between the French and the communist-led Vietminh came to a head. With French forces reeling, the United States prepared to intervene militarily to prevent the further spread of communism. Turning to its allies, first and foremost Britain, to join in what the Secretary of State John Foster Dulles called a 'united action' coalition. Far from agreeing to participate in a coalition, the British government set out to frustrate US military plans and to work instead for a peaceful negotiated resolution.

Ultimately fearing eruption of a Third World War from US intervention, the British envoy led by Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden managed to broker a peaceful outcome. Professors Kevin Ruane and Matthew Jones chart the history of this last occasion when British diplomacy played a key if not decisive role in resolving a fundamental issue of war and peace. Eden's diplomatic victory over the Americans in 1954 is nearly always overshadowed by the catastrophic political outcome for Britain and Eden in the Suez Crisis two year later.

This book, however, seeks to counter some of the retrospective blight that Suez has cast over his pre-1956 career and realign Eden's reputation with a more balanced perspective, taking a larger view of his influence on peace in Southeast Asia.