One day last week Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden announced that Sir Robert Vansittart would retire as his Chief Diplomatic Adviser June 25, when he reaches the age of 60. Thus ended the public career of the man who, more than any other man, shaped British foreign policy during the fateful decade of the '305.
Over a fireplace in Sir Robert's country house, Denham Place, Bucks, hangs the portrait of an ancestor, Henry Vansittart, who was Governor of Bengal. That was the Vansittart who once sent his brother a live baboon, which the brother promptly presented to an organization both men belonged to,...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
