The diplomats' world

This volume explores the history of nineteenth-century diplomacy and in a new and innovative way. Drawing on the diplomats' many and varied encounters between their own individual and professional circles and the "wider world," this study discusses diplomacy as a part of the cultural history of politics. While many modern works on foreign affairs marginalize the nature of diplomatic practice, this volume links form and content, presenting diplomacy as both a real world experience and a structural element in international relations. All sixteen essays share a common interest in the interdependencies between individual personalities, experiences, and structural context and their relevance to the conduct of diplomacy and, ultimately, the outcome of diplomatic events. Among the topics covered are the social history and the operating norms of the diplomatic establishment, the influence of the public sphere on the conduct of diplomacy, the role of etiquette and protocol in diplomatic encounters. -- Book jacket.