E-Books →The Ambassador's Wife's Tale

The year that Julia Miles got married and so became part of the British government'sForeign Office machine was aseminal year in world politics. 1968 sawthe murders of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.,the USSR invasion of Czechoslovakia, the Baader-Meinhof gang introducing modern terrorism to Europe, and three hijackings launching a spate of terror in the air. Civil unrest by students in Paris and massive general strikes almost brought down the French government and a protest outside theU.S. Embassy in London against the Vietnam War ended in violence and injury. Her book is set against this background of insecurity and upheaval which has endured until the present. She describes some previously unknown terrorist incidents in such unlikely places as Luxembourg as well as documenting the breakdown in diplomatic relations and evacuation of Embassy staff from Libya following the shooting ofBritishpolice officerYvonne Fletcher. What is it like to produce and raise a family against a background of threat in Cyprus or privation in Saudi Arabia? How much does the Foreign Office do to protect its staff? Julia entertains and informs with a series of vignettes which throw light into previously unseen corners of Embassy life.