Suez was a watershed for Britain. It was to cause as severe a rupture in British culture as in that nation’s politics and its international position. Yet Suez did not presage Britain’s decline; rather, it made obvious what had already come to pass. Britain no longer belonged to the top echelon of world powers. The bleeding of two world wars and the divisions at home had heavily drained not only its exchequer, but also its confidence and political will. Eden had no doubt that he had done the right thing at Suez. Years later, the Times of London said of Anthony Eden, “He was the last prime
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