Volume VI of this important collection contains letters and reports exchanged among the members of the Office of External Affairs of Ireland during the crucial years from 1939 - 1941. The editors provide an introduction that sets the historical scene as well as biographical notes on the correspondents and others mentioned. The documents themselves are far from dry or formal. Many of them are private assessments of situations between people who know each other well. The problem of Irish neutrality is thoroughly discussed. The loss of a large number of papers in 1940 was caused by de Valera's fear of an imminent German invasion and the need to destroy evidence of collaboration with the British government. To fill the gap, the editors have selected records from the British archives that reflect or react to Irish concerns. Distributed in the US by ISBS. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Volume VI in the hugely successful Documents on Irish Foreign Policy series explores Ireland's Second World War neutrality through secret wartime documents. The book shows, in readable and gripping detail, how Irish diplomats established and executed the State's neutrality in wartime Europe. Most importantly, it reveals in detail hitherto unknown, the increasingly complex and highly-charged nature of wartime British-Irish relations. The volume is the most comprehensive account ever published of Ireland's foreign policy during the first years of the Second World War. Published, for the first time, are complete transcripts of the British-Irish defense co-operation talks that took place in late May 1940. It includes full reports on the progress of the war in Europe from Irish diplomats in London, Berlin, Paris, Rome, and Washington. It also covers such areas as the Russo-Finnish Winter War, the invasion and fall of France, the invasion of Norway, Churchill's rise to power, the Blitz, daily life in Berlin during wartime, and Luftwaffe attacks on Ireland.
