[This timely contribution] provides important insights into various dimensions of gendered diplomatic cultures … With an eye for detail, careful, and respectful writing about highly personal matters, and a reflexive and rich analysis, Erlandsson argues that if we want to fully understand Western diplomacy in the post-war period, 'we need to pay attention ... to the classed, gendered and racialized practices that governed it'.

Emma Rosengren, Stockholm University, Sweden, Journal of Contemporary History

This superb study demonstrates to the full the value of delving into all aspects of the diplomatic life-world in order to gain a more complete appreciation and understanding of how diplomacy 'works'. The attention to detail is admirable, and the critical judgement is subtle and evident throughout. A wonderful book that looks at first glance like a straightforward diplomatic biography but that actually delivers a far more complex analysis to re-assess diplomatic history and practice in one go.

Giles Scott Smith, Roosevelt Chair in New Diplomatic History, RIAS/Leiden University, The Netherlands

Susanna Erlandsson offers a fascinating portrait of diplomats as fully rounded human beings, showing why and how spouses, cooks, entertaining, dress, and much more are an integral part of international affairs. Personal Politics in the Postwar World will be an essential reference for anyone interested in the art of diplomacy.

Barbara Keys, Professor of History, Durham University, UK

Placing the heterosexual couple – the diplomat and his wife – at the center of mid-century Western diplomacy, Erlandsson provides a superb account of just how integral the diplomatic home, food and family were for diplomatic interactions. A must read for anyone interested in the gendered, racialized and classed micro-foundations of diplomacy.

Ann Towns, Professor of Political Science and Head of GenDip, University of Gothenburg, Sweden

Erlandsson's book offers us fascinating insight into the backstage of the diplomatic scene. Her thoughtful micro-study of the van Kleffens couple as a prototype of European diplomatic couples of the 20th Century can be highly recommended to readers interested in diplomatic history, gender history, or the history of daily life in European upper classes.

H-Soz-Kult

Susanna Erlandsson has written an elegant and important book, which is equal parts empirical candy and conceptual meditation.

Haakon A. Ikonomou, Historisk Tidskrift