The European Convention on Human Rights of 1950 established the most effective international system of human rights protection ever created. This is the first book that gives a comprehensive account of how it came into existence, of the part played in its genesis by the British government, and of its significance for Britain in the period between 1953 and 1966.

Contents:
1. Human Rights, Fundamental Freedoms, and the World of the Common Law
2. The Mechanisms of Repression
3. The International Protection of Individual Rights Before 1939
4. The Ideological Response to War: Codes of Human Rights
5. Human Rights and the Structure of the Brave New World
6. The Burdens of Empire
7. The Foreign Office Establishes a Policy
8. Beckett's Bill and the Loss of the Initiative
9. Conflict Abroad and at Home
10. The Growing Disillusion
11. Britain and the Western Option
12. From the Brussels Treaty to the Council of Europe
13. A Convention on the Right Lines: The Rival Texts
14. The Conclusion of Negotiations and the Rearguard Action
15. The First Protocol
16. Ratification and its Consequences
17. Emergencies and Derogations
18. The First Cyprus Case
19. The Outcome of the Two Applications
20. Coming In, Rather Reluctantly, From the Cold
Bibliography
Index