Plotting for Peace
American Peacemakers, British Codebreakers, and Britain at War, 1914–1917

A dramatic re-interpretation of British politics, Anglo-American relations, and the role of British codebreaking during the First World War.

Daniel Larsen (Author)

9781108486682, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 1 April 2021

444 pages
23.6 x 16 x 2.8 cm, 0.75 kg

'… invaluable, gripping and entertaining …' Simon Heffer, Daily Telegraph

With Britain by late 1916 facing the prospect of an economic crisis and increasingly dependent on the US, rival factions in Asquith's government battled over whether or not to seek a negotiated end to the First World War. In this riveting new account, Daniel Larsen tells the full story for the first time of how Asquith and his supporters secretly sought to end the war. He shows how they supported President Woodrow Wilson's efforts to convene a peace conference and how British intelligence, clandestinely breaking American codes, aimed to sabotage these peace efforts and aided Asquith's rivals. With Britain reading and decrypting all US diplomatic telegrams between Europe and Washington, these decrypts were used in a battle between the Treasury, which was terrified of looming financial catastrophe, and Lloyd George and the generals. This book's findings transform our understanding of British strategy and international diplomacy during the war.

Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. The First Year of War (August 1914–August 1915)
2. Strategy (August–December 1915)
3. Negotiations (January–March 1916)
4. Deliberations (March–May 1916)
5. The Gamble (June–August 1916)
6. The Knock-out Blow (September–October 1916)
7. The Fall of Asquith (October–December 1916)
8. Peace Moves (December 1916–January 1917)
9. The Zimmermann Telegram and Wilson's Move to War (February–April 1917)
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: First World War [HBWN], Military history [HBW], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], History of the Americas [HBJK], British & Irish history [HBJD1]