Raymond Seitz
The Second Oldest Profession
The Ambassadors: From Ancient Greece to the Nation State
By Jonathan Wright
HarperCollins 336pp £20 order from our bookshop
As we go to press (an important qualifier when the pace of events is fast and the stakes high), the diplomatic community of London is locked in a titanic struggle with the undiplomatic mayor of London. Should diplomats be required to pay London’s congestion charge on their automobiles, especially if the automobiles (or, more precisely, the occupants thereof) are engaged in official business? That is the pivotal question, and it is a matter of prestige, power, precedent, privilege and profit.
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