"James Cooper's
A Diplomatic Meeting: Reagan, Thatcher, and the Art of Summitry is so much more than meets the eye. It is a masterful study of big personalities and big ideas which shows how domestic concerns often drive foreign policy. Cooper reminds us of the importance of diplomacy and how it can play a central role again in an increasingly fractious world looking for leadership."—Luke A. Nichter, author of
The Last Brahmin: Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. and the Making of the Cold War"In this engaging, erudite, and very well researched book, James Cooper offers an insightful and fascinating analysis of the summit interactions of the two major leaders of the West as the Cold War reached its culmination. It demonstrates clearly that the public image of the Reagan-Thatcher 'special relationship' was often at variance with the reality of their need to consider differing national interests and the domestic political contexts in which they had to operate."—Iwan Morgan, author of Reagan: An American Icon
"James Cooper has already established himself as one of the leading scholars of Anglo-American relations. Now in this fine new study, he cements that reputation with a fresh look at the personal meetings between Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. Combining incisive analysis with recently released archival material, he shows the ups and downs of the relationship to help us better understand the full complexity of this most consequential of alliances."—Richard Aldous, author of Reagan and Thatcher: The Difficult Relationship