Stafford Cripps' Mission to Moscow, 1940–42

A lively revisionist account of Cripps' ambassadorship to Moscow at a turning-point in the war.

Gabriel Gorodetsky (Author)

9780521522205, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 8 August 2002

380 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.6 cm, 0.617 kg

This book offers a lively revisionist account of a crucial phase in the life of Stafford Cripps: his meteoric rise from the radical fringe of Parliament on the eve of the war to membership of the War Cabinet in 1942. Cripps' ambassadorship to Moscow was of prime importance in view of the dramatic events during this period - the German conquest of Europe, Britain's struggle for survival and Russia's transformation from neutral to belligerent. Dr Gorodetsky assesses how Britain adapted to react to the changing circumstances and examines the recurrent controversy between Cripps and Churchill over Anglo-Soviet relations. New perspectives are opened on related issues such as the role of the civil service in policymaking, the British and Soviet appreciations of and reactions to intelligence on the planned German invasion of the Soviet Union and the origins of the controversies over assistance to Russia, the launching of the Second Front and the frontier issues.

List of illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgements
1. Origins of the mission
2. The mission launched
3. Interregnum
4. The turn of the tide
5. An alliance of sorts
6. Disillusion
7. Frustration
8. Aftermath
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], British & Irish history [HBJD1]