Anglo-American Relations in the Twentieth Century

Anglo-American relations in the twentieth century by Ritchie Ovendale. Macmillan, 1998. ISBN 0 333 596129 (hbk) 0 333 596137 (pbk) rrp: £37.50 (hbk) £11.99 (pbk)

In many ways this book is too good for its own good. Because Ritchie Ovendale knows so much about the primary and secondary literature for the immediate pre-World War II and post-World War II periods, as the footnotes abundantly indicate, in the first instance this is a work for teachers rather than for students. These central chapters are very good indeed and clearly the author has been able to draw on his own earlier researches. In fact just under two-thirds of the book are concerned with the quarter of a century between the start of World War II and the departure of Kennedy and Macmillan. Ritchie Ovendale knows where the best historical fare is and feasts accordingly. On the other hand there is a sense that the later chapters, those dealing with the Johnson-Wilson era onwards, are in comparison much more general as if the author is ill at ease when the thirty year rule and his own special interests conspire against him. Admittedly 162 pages of actual text divided into ten chapters necessitates a great deal of compression, especially when the opening chapter has to run from 1775 to the end of World War I. True each chapter is made easier by extensive sub-headings though at times this can lead to the sort of brief episodic treatment that can confuse the uninitiated; occasionally it is even cryptic. It is the price of covering a lot of ground. Likewise there are, it has to be said, some slips, or at least perhaps inevitable signs of imperfect proof-reading; on the other hand the bibliography is excellent for a work of this kind.

Students should also use this book, not least because it does illustrate the historiographical debate; indeed this is one of its particular strengths; it is not however a student text as such. In that sense the book perhaps tries to do too much in detailing the arguments of historians within the context of a general survey; though this produces a high quality of historical analysis there is inevitably a certain unevenness of treatment. The most interesting part is the devaluing of Churchill’s relationship with Roosevelt during the War and the emphasis on Bevin’s role after it in teaching the Americans the need to face down the Russians. Certainly one learns a lot from this book and it is well worth a library purchase.