Deplomatic art: an informal history of world diplomacy

From the precivilized era, when rival human hordes first sent out conciliatory envoys, queerly and distinctively dressed, to palaver with the foe, to the semicivilized days of our own time, when a subdued encounter at the conference table can mean the difference between universal holocaust and a future for the species, ambassadors have seemed to most other people a race apart. Little has been done to dispel that illusion. Actually, a diplomat who is too frank in public about his job can be of little service to his country, and a touch of misplaced humor can mean an international debacle.

Now, at last, an experienced journalist and commentator, a one-time foreign service representative himself, manages to tread the razor's edge with consummate skill. Mr. Roetter tells how diplomats have been called, chosen and trained from earliest days to the present, how they have behaved under duress, and how some have succeeded brilliantly, some fallen victim to circumstances and some merely muddled through.
He tells the secrets of John Foster Dulles' brinkmanship, diplomatic immunity, the mysterious "spirit of Geneva," and the latest styles in spying; presents perceptive anec dotes about colorful figures like Claire Booth Luce, Dr. Mossadeq and Premier Krushchev; and points out some matchless examples of diplomatic finesse, His readers learn, for example, how Latin-American dictators escape revolutions in comfort, and how the British ambassador in Teheran once dealt with a revolt in the Shah's harem.
Here is a wise and witty exploration of the world of diplomacy, with many an amusing and penetrating look behind the façade of power display, protocol and polite ballyhoo. Mr. Roetter discovers, perhaps to the surprise of some nervous Americans, that in our Ship of State there have always been, and still are, some very steady hands on the tiller.