This eighth volume in the Documents on Irish Foreign Policy series runs from August 1945, as the Second World War ends and the Department of External Affairs holds its first "Heads of Missions" conference to plan the direction of post-war foreign policy, to February 1948, as Ireland engaged with the Conference on European Economic Co-operation and the proposal of the United States for what would become the Marshall Plan. The documents, drawn mainly from the records of the Department of Foreign Affairs, but including important documents from other archival sources, are presented in chronological order based on date of dispatch. The text of the documents have been reproduced as exactly as possible, with marginal notes and annotations generally presented as footnotes. Distributed in the US by ISBS. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Nazi gold, fugitive war criminals, the threat of nuclear war, and the growing global dominance of Communism - issues dealt with by Irish diplomats in the years immediately after the end of World War II - are central themes in this latest volume of Documents on Irish Foreign Policy, a series which continues to open up the secret archives of the Department of Foreign Affairs. Volume VIII runs from 1945 to 1948 and shows that during the immediate post-war years, Ireland redefined its global position as a result of wartime neutrality and the developing Cold War. Previously thought to be years of vacuum and general isolation, the immediate post-war years saw Ireland engage with a wide range of multilateral organizations, open new diplomatic missions, and repair relations with various States - in particular the United States and Britain - which had suffered during World War II. (Series: Documents on Irish Foreign Policy - Vol. VIII)
