ABSTRACT
The last chapter analysed British détente policy in the 1950s and early 1960s. This chapter complements that overview chapter, by developing a detailed case study of British policy in action during the latter part of this period. With the object of throwing further light on the nature and the impact of British policy, it describes and evaluates the significance of the British contribution to the negotiations between 1958 and 1963, which culminated in the signing of the Partial Test Ban Treaty in August 1963. The test ban issue rather suggests itself as a case study here, because many commentators have argued that British diplomacy, and Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in particular, played a crucial role in the negotiations. Harold Evans, for example, argues that:
[the treaty] will surely merit a place in the history books-and rank as a true Macmillan achievement. It was he-with his sense of history-who read the signs aright in Russia and saw the opportunities: who coaxed and prodded the Americans: who argued the case with Khrushchev: and finally took the initiative which led to the Kennedy-Macmillan approach. He had persisted, moreover, despite the collapse of the Paris summit (Evans, 1981, p. 285).
