This volume records the transition from planning against any post-war resurgence of German and Japanese militarism to preparations against a possible threat from the Soviet Union. It charts Foreign Office resistance to consideration of even the possibility of Soviet hostility after the war. Changing Direction is likely to remain the standard work of reference on this period, both for scholars and for the wider public.

Julian Lewis

Note on formerly withheld documents, List of plates and maps, Foreword by the late Professor R. V. Jones, Acknowledgements, Abbreviations, Preface to the first edition, Introduction to the second edition, 1 The Foreign Office Origins of Post-war Strategic Planning, 2 The Military Sub-Committee 1942-43, 3 The Post-Hostilities Planning Sub-Committee 1943-44, 4 The Post-Hostilities Planning Staff 1944-45, 5 The Joint Technical Warfare Committee and the Future Nature of Warfare 1945-46, 6 The Joint Planning Staff and an Approved Defence Strategy 1945-47, Conclusions, Appendices, Sources, References, Index