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RR 2017/158 Historical Dictionary of International Relations Peter Lamb and Fiona Robertson-Snape Rowman & Littlefield Lanham, MD and London xxxvi + 373 pp. ISBN 978 1 5381 0168 1 (print) ; ISBN 978 1 5381 0169 8 (e-book) £65 $95 (print); £60 $90 (e-book) Historical Dictionaries of International Organizations
Given Rowman and Littlefield's vast array of historical dictionaries, it is a little surprising that it has taken until 2017 for international relations to be covered. There have been titles on aspects of international relations, especially the foreign policies of major states, for example, the Historical Dictionary of British Foreign Policy (Neville, 2013) (RR 2013/288) and the Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Foreign Policy (Saul, 2015) (RR 2015/292). There have also been some titles on major conflicts, both historical and ongoing, for example, Historical Dictionary of the Arab-Israeli Conflict (Kumaraswamy, 2015) (RR 2016/111), and even a few titles on relations between specific states, for example, Historical Dictionary of USA-Russian/Soviet Relations (Saul, 2009) (RR 2010/016). Hitherto, however, international relations as a topic or discipline has escaped Rowman & Littlefield's attention. Also somewhat surprising, now that it has been subjected to the historical dictionary "treatment", is the series to which international relations has been assigned. Historical Dictionary of International Relations is published as a title in the Historical Dictionaries of International Organizations series. Here, it sits somewhat uneasily alongside titles which cover actual organizations, either individually or collectively, for example, Historical Dictionary of Human Rights and Humanitarian Organizations (Doyle et al. , 2017) or Historical Dictionary of the European Union (Laursen, 2017) (RR 2016/148).
One has the impression that once Rowman & Littlefield hit upon international relations as a subject for the historical dictionary treatment there was some uncertainty into which of their various series it should slot. One also suspects that the title may only have been commissioned because lead author Peter Lamb was responsible for another recent Rowman & Littlefield title, the Historical Dictionary of Socialism (Lamb, 2015) (RR 2016/222). Lamb is an Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations at Staffordshire University in the UK and...