This volume highlights the complex intra-alliance politics of what was
seen as the likeliest flash point of conflict in the Cold War and
demonstrates how strongly determinant were concerns about relationships
with allies in the choices made by all the major governments. It
recounts the evolution of policy during the 1958 and 1961 Berlin crises
from the perspective of each government central to the crisis, one on
the margins and the military headquarters responsible for crafting an
agreed Western military campaign