'A System of Ambition? British Foreign Policy 1660 - 1793' by Jeremy Black. Looks at Britain's international relations during the time of the following monarch's reigns:

Charles II (the restored Stuart dynasty); James the second, Mary II, William III, Anne and the Hannoverians George 1, 2 and 3

This is a brand new, unread paperback book, published by Sutton Publishing Limited in Great Britain in 2000, 304pp, ISBN 0750922788

About this book: 'In 1791, in reaction to the exertion by William Pitt the Younger's government of diplomatic pressure and the threat of naval force to determine the outcome of the struggle between Russia and Turkey in the Balkans, the playwright and opposition MP, Sheridan attacked what he called 'the system of ambition, of vain glory' in British foreign policy.

Foreign policy was of central concern in Britain between 1660 and 1793. It affected and interested no only politicians but also all those involved in matters of economics and religion - with taxation, religion and the succession being intimately bound up with Britain's alignment in Europe. It was a time of state-making and of colonial expansion and empire building. A time of expansion, consolidation, and the protection of interests.

Jeremy Black's respected history of British foreign policy in this crucial and fascinating era deals with all the major conflicts, including the Anglo-Dutch Wars; the wars of the Spanish and Austrian Successions, the Seven Years War and the American and French revolutions. It includes the role of parliament; the influence of the crown; the diplomatic system; the impact of military considerations; the importance of trade and the growing effect of public opinion and the press. It is a fascinating record of Britain's rise to spectacular greatness on the world stage

Contents:

Acknowledgements

List of Abbreviations

Preface

Introduction

PART ONE: Diplomacy and Domestic Pressures

1. Introduction and the Sources

Introduction

The Sources

2. The Crown

Charles II: a diplomacy for English absolutism?

James II: a protégé of Louis XIV?

William and Anne: rivals to and peacemakers with Louis

The Hanoverian connection 1714-60

George III 1760 -93: a heart truly British or a Hanoverian Secret Du Roi?

3. Parliament and Foreign Policy

4. Diplomats, Secretaries of State and Other Ministers

British Diplomats

Secretaries of State and other ministers

5. Strategic and Military Considerations

Military Power; The Navy; Blue water versus continental strategies

6. Trade and Colonies

7. Public Opinion and the Press

8. The Debate over Policy

9. British Foreign Policy 1660 - 1714

Introduction

The Restoration

Second Anglo - Dutch War 1665 - 7

From Peace to War 1667 - 72

Third Anglo - Dutch War 1672 - 4

Peace and French Pensions 1674 - 85

James II 1685 - 8

Dutch William and War 1688 - 97

The War of the Spanish Succession 1702 - 13

10. British Foreign Policy 1714 - 63

Introduction

George I, the Anglo - French alliance and continental interventionalism 1714 - 27

From the accession of George II to the fall of Walpole 1727 - 42

The Cartert Years 1742 - 4

The last years of the War of the Austrian Succession 1744 - 8

Newcastle and the attempt to consolidate the 'Old System' 1748 - 55

Britain, France and the outbreak of the Seven Years' War, 1754 - 1756

The Severn Years' War 1756 - 1763

11. British Foreign Policy 1763 - 1783

Introduction

Anglo - Bourbon tension 1763 - 1771

Britain, the First Partition of Poland and Anglo - French relations 1772 - 1774

The American War 1775 - 1783

12. British Foreign Policy 1783 - 1793

In the shadow of France 1783 - 1787

Anglo - French relations 1787 - 1793

The rise and fall of the Anglo - Prussian alliance, 1787 - 1792

Conclusion; Selective Bibliography; Index