Parliament and Foreign Policy in the Eighteenth Century

Contemporary Review, August, 2004

Parliament and Foreign Policy in the Eighteenth Century. Jeremy Black. Cambridge University Press. [pounds sterling]45.00 (US$70.00). xiii 261 pages. ISBN 0-521-83331-0. In this study Prof. Black looks not only at Parliament's role in the conduct of foreign policy but at the impact of the policy itself on Parliamentary politics, especially on Parliamentary debates.

Behind these discussions the author is reasserting the centrality of political history to our historical understanding of the seventeenth century. Parliament's role has been undervalued in this field and the author reminds us that Parliament was still an independent part of the Constitution and, within the limits of the Constitution, had a real and important role to play in forming foreign policy. Likewise, foreign issues mattered to MPs and ministry policies affected the support government got from members. Prof. Black follows a chronological approach for the first five chapters and in the next three he looks at sources, the character of the debates, the role of Parliament. His final chapter is devoted to conclusions which show how important, though limited, were Parliament's involvement. This is a first-rate work of scholarship and discusses a topic that has for too long been sidetracked. (R.G.J.)