Here we finish 1956, with the final episode in the series wrapping up Eden's story, and the Conclusion episode, wrapping up this eventful year.

The Prime Minister, once so revered, had irreparably damaged his reputation by acting as he did in the Suez Crisis. While on paper the record stated that Britain and France had acted with the most noble of intentions, in reality, as Eden well knew, the ambitions had been far more rudimentary and straightforward, and the miscalculations far more grave, than Eden would ever let on. He would meet his maker still parroting the lies which had so stupefied his political rivals, frustrated his allies and outraged the Western powers.

How can we explain Eden’s policy? How did the British political nation react afterwards? Was it ever possible to leave Suez behind? Did the incident significantly damage Anglo-Americans, as we are sometimes led to believe? Did it result in a downturn of British fortunes in the Middle East? All of these are critical questions, so I hope you’ll join me to investigate them as we tackle Anthony Eden, the Suez Crisis and this fascinating year of 1956 in one more eventful episode.

Remember history friends - you can get these episodes ad-free with scripts attached for just $2 a month - for a fiver you can access our PhD Thesis series, so come and nerd out with us!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.