Outposts of Diplomacy: A History of the Embassy
(Reaktion Books: London, 2024)
This is my swan song. It’s 110,000 words long (excluding the index) and has 60 black and white illustrations. It was published on 1 March 2024 in the UK and 1 May 2024 in the USA. I have blogged about the book on the publisher’s website here and replied to questions about it in the ‘Honest truth’ column of the long-established Scottish weekly, The Sunday Post, where it appeared under the title ‘Spies, smugglers and trade experts: the tangled history of the embassy’ on 12 May 2024.
This is the contents list:
Preface
Introduction
1 Fifteenth-Century Beginnings
2 Expanding Duties
3 Household and Buildings
4 Pre-Telegraphic Communications
5 Nineteenth-Century Highpoint
6 Enter the Americas
7 The Middle East and Africa
8 Far Eastern Compounds
9 Backseat after the First World War
10 Stubborn Institution
Epilogue
Note on Sources
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index
Reviews
… surprisingly captivating … Berridge gives readers not only a smoothly-paced and quietly eloquent account … but also a marvellous gallery of the people who led those embassies. …The right sort of ambassador, one capable of navigating these tricky shoals, could sometimes become close to a ruler, flattering him, providing him with news and gossip, and “at a rocky moment setting his heart aglow by whispering in his ear the word ‘pension.’” This kind of intensely personal element was an important and often under-chronicled aspect of the job, and Berridge’s decision to fill his book so delightfully with personalities brings it right into the spotlight where it belongs. … “Diplomacy,” Berridge wonderfully sums up, “is the art of conducting business between states without resort to force, propaganda or law,” and Outposts of Diplomacy so entertainingly dramatizes this shop-talk world that readers will be wishing the book were three times its length. Steve Donoghue, Open Letters Review – An Arts & Literature Review [USA], 29 May 2024. Full review here.
… provides a broad overview of diplomacy’s cornerstone—the resident embassy. … Berridge’s approach is mostly categorical, highlighting various aspects of the institution …The narrative also traces a somewhat vague yet informative trajectory of modern diplomacy’s highs and lows … Crammed with trivia, this will appeal to political history buffs. Anonymous, Publisher’s Weekly, April 2024. Full review here.
Why should we waste our money on these overpaid toffs [ambassadors] when modern technology allows instant communication between world leaders? G.R. Berridge tackles the question in his history of the permanent diplomatic mission. It is a convoluted story, covering many continents and cultures, but Berridge has mastered the voluminous literature and the intricate detail. He is a fluent storyteller, though the story is overwhelming. … . Rodric Braithwaite (British Ambassador to the Soviet Union, 1988–91 and afterwards chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee), History Today, vol. 74 (9), September 2024. Full review here.