The articles contained in this collection have all been published already or are in process of publication but, as they were placed originally in diverse locations, it is convenient to have them brought together. The articles are elaborations or developments of the themes set out in Dr. Wilson's Policy of the Entente (1985) and are concerned with the objectives of British foreign policy during the period before the First World War. In one way or another all of them challenge common explanations of British policy.

The heart of Wilson's argument, developed in several of the essays, is that the key to British foreign policy during the period was the Rus- sian alliance. In an essay on the defence of India in Central Asia he addresses the central ques- tion of whether the Russian agreement of 1907 was sought and maintained for European or Asian reasons and contends that the decisive motive was provided by the belief that Britain could not afford to defend India against Russia by military means and so was obliged to do so by diplomatic arrangement. It was, therefore, Asia which made Britain seek the Russian alliance and cling to it at all costs during the years which followed.

Keith M. Wilson, is a historian and author who is Emeritus Professor of International Politics in the School of History at the Univers ity of Leeds.Wilson received a DPhil for his thesis The role and influence of the professional advisers to the Foreign Office on the making of British foreign policy from December 1905 to August 1914. He has written a number of books on British foreign policy during the 19th and 20th century.