The Ambassador's Wife's Tale

A memoir of life as a British ambassador's wife amid the upheavals of the late 1960s

The year that Julia Miles got married and so became part of the British government's Foreign Office machine was a seminal year in world politics. 1968 saw the 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 the U.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 of British police officer Yvonne 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.

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.