Book reviews

Charles S. Sampson (ed.), Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961-1963, Vol.VI, Kennedy-Krushchev Exchanges (Washington: GPO, 1996).

Gillian Staerck and Michael Kandiah (eds), PROfiles 1964 on CD-ROM: Set I Prime Minister's and Cabinet Documents (£300 + VAT; ISBN 0-11-526478-7); Set 2, Documents on External Affairs (£350 + VAT; ISBN 0-11-526487-6); Set 3, Cabinet Committees and Defence Documents (£300 + VAT; ISBN 0-11-526488-4); Set 4, Comprehensive Index and Library CD-ROM (£200 + VAT; ISBN 0-11-526489-2). Discount for purchase of all four sets: £900 + VAT. Published by HMSO Electronic Publishing Sales, HMSO Publications Centre, 51 Nine Elms Lane, P0 Box 276, London 5W8 5DT (Tel. David Blake or Andrew Evans on UK - 171-873-8236; Fax. UK - 171-873-8203). The US and Canadian agent is UNIPUB, 4611-F Assembly Drive, Lanham, MD 20706- 4391 (Tel. Toll Free 800-274-4888; Fax 800-865-3450).

Michael Shea, To Lie Abroad - Diplomacy Revisited (Sinclair Stevenson, 1996), 260 pp., £17.99 hb.

Michael Dockrill and Brian McKercher (eds.), Diplomacy and World Power: Studies in British Foreign Policy, 1890-1950 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1 996); xix+2714 pp. ISBN 0-921-46243-6.

David H. Dunn (ed.), Diplomacy at the Highest Level: The Evolution of International Summitry (London/New York: Macmillan, St. Martin's Press, 1996), 279 pp. £45, ISBN (UK) 0-333-64441-9, (USA) 0-312-16273-1.

David Dutton, Anthony Eden: A Life and Reputation (London: Arnold, 1997) xiv + 576 pp., £25 (hb); ISBN 0-340-56168-8.

James G. Hershberg, James B. Conant: Harvard to Hiroshima and the Making of the Nuclear Age (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1993), 948 pp.

Saki Dockrill, Eisenhower's New-Look National Security Policy, 1953-61 (London: Macmillan, 1996). xvi + 400pp., £40.

Alan James, Britain and the Congo Crisis, 1960-63 (London: Macmillan, 1996), xxi + 219pp. £42.50; ISBN 0-333-61860-2.

Robert S. McNamara, In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam (New York: Random House, 1995), xviii + 414pp., ISBN 0-8129-2523-8.     

Ex Pluribus Unum: Fusion of the European Communities into the European Union

Abstract: This article presents the main legal approaches used in constructing the relationships between the TEU, TEC, TEAC and TECSC and the institutions set up by them. It argues that the dominant approaches which separate the European Union from the European Communities run into serious difficulties when explaining the normative framework and the actual practice of the EU institutions. In contrast, the proposed 'unity thesis' asserts that de lege lata the European Union can be considered one entity from the point of view of the organisation, its actions and its law, The article develops in detail the legal premises and some of the consequences of this thesis.     

Police attitudes in assigning responsibility for wife abuse

Prevailing myths concerning wife abuse generally tend to blame the victim. The present study examines the degree of responsibility assigned by police officers to the wife, the husband, as well as the couple's socioeconomic situation in cases of wife abuse. The officer's position (neutral vs supportive) adopted toward the woman is also investigated. The influence of eight characteristics related either to the spouses or to the situation of violence on both the officer's position and the attribution of responsibility is analyzed. The characteristics are: couple's socioeconomic status, type of household, drinking by husband, alleged antagonism on the part of the wife, ambivalence of wife to press charges, type of abuse, history of assault, and violence toward children. The results are based on answers to case vignettes provided by 235 municipal police officers. The data were analyzed by performing a multivariate analysis of variance. Results indicate the type of abuse to be the characteristic with the greatest impact on police attitudes. While the husband is systematically considered more responsible than the wife, police officers always consider the wife somewhat responsible, particularly when there is alleged antagonism by the woman and when threats of violence are present.