`This study, as its extensive bibliography testifies, covers
well-trodden ground, but in its shrewd use of sources, some of them
newly available, it throws a thought-provoking light on the
subject. Professor Baylis exposes rigorously but objectively the
various contradictions and weaknesses in ministerial and Chiefs' of
Staff papers of the period ... When the documents of 1965/70 are
released a sequel to Professor Baylis's compelling book, assessing
how
these changes affected decision-making, will make fascinating
reading.'
RUSI Journal
`John Baylis is at his best and extremely interesting in his
account of how the three Service Chiefs of Staff approached the
development of a nuclear strategy ... this admirable book
represents really good history. It is not easy reading, but
immensely worthwhile for anyone who seeks to understand the role of
the British deterrent, and arguably, the future now that the Cold
War is over. It does one no harm to concentrate one's mind
occasionally, and, in
my view, Professor Baylis' story well merits the necessary
effort.'
Army Quarterly and Defence Journal
`John Bayliss had produced a work of considerable scholarship as
part of the international Nuclear History Program ... it is a
tribute to the author's skill that it remains easy to read and the
arguments are clear throughout ... Many of the issues discussed by
Baylis have been analysed elsewhere but the strength of this book
is that it deals with them in a comprehensive manner and it ranges
over a broad period of time.'
G. Wyn Rees, University of Leicester, Political Studies, Vol. 45,
No. 1, March '97
`A magisterial book. It is both a work of synthesis, although much
of the work synthesized was written or inspired by him, and of
detailed archival research. It addresses all of the major debates
in post-war British strategic history and delivers well-founded
judgements. This book is also remarkably rich in detailed
information and analysis.'
Catherine Baxter, Intelligence and National Security, Vol.12 Number
3
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