Parergon

In British Politics and Foreign Policy, 1727–44, Jeremy Black examines British foreign policy between the accession of King George II and the outbreak of war between Britain and France in 1744. It is the third volume in Black’s series on eighteenth-century British foreign policy, preceded by Debating Foreign Policy in Eighteenth-Century Britain (Ashgate, 2011) and British Politics and Foreign Policy, in the Reign of George I, 1714–1724 (Ashgate, 2014). A fourth has since been published: British Politics and Foreign Policy, 1744–57: Mid-Century Crisis (Ashgate, 2015) [See review, this issue, supra]. Following the Glorious Revolution of 1688–89, Black argues, foreign policy became more central to British politics, and the debates surrounding it encouraged the development of the British political nation. In the period 1727–44, ideas of national identity, national interest, and the political role of the nation were all shaped by questions of foreign policy, which consistently arose out of a dynamic interaction between domestic politics and international relations. In the last decade of Robert Walpole’s premiership, foreign policy was one of the main areas of disagreement in domestic politics. The growing parliamentary weakness, Walpole’s isolation, and his eventual fall from power were linked to his unpopular foreign policies, particularly the war with Spain in 1739 and the move towards war with France in 1742. Black concludes this volume by arguing that foreign policy was an important part of a contemporary strategic culture focused on issues of national security, commerce, and Empire: while foreign policy was not the key element in Britain’s greatness and global dominance, it cannot be completely overlooked.

Black brings considerable expertise to this volume. He has examined a large volume of the correspondence generated by Britain’s contemporary politicians, the dispatches and reports sent by ambassadors to their governments, together with a vast range of other official documentation. With impressive linguistic skill, he has consulted manuscripts in Hanoverian, Venetian, Genoese, French, Austrian, Prussian, and Bavarian archives. Black’s deep understanding of the processes, personalities, and policies of the period has produced an insightful and rewarding read. [End Page 261]