Brendan O'Malley is Foreign Editor of the Times Educational Supplement and Ian Craig is Political Editor of the Manchester Evening News.

Henry Kissinger claimed that, because of the Watergate crisis, he could do nothing to stop the Greek colonels' coup on the island of Cyprus in 1975. This book argues that the coup was, in fact, no failure of American foreign policy, but the realization of a long-term Washington plot.

Strategic prize - Britain's vital military base; the enemy within - the rise of the Enosis campaign; the secret alliance -Eden stokes Turkish violence; military crackdown - Harding gets tough; hamstrung at Suez - Grivas sabotages military preparations; Macmillan's pact - Eisenhower deal frees Makarios; sounding the retreat - NATO allowed to mediate; North Atlantic agenda -Eisenhower rejects the Macmillan plan; pax americana - the settlement secures NATO ties; a sham independence - the unsinkable aircraft-carrier; constitutional collapse - the bloodbath begins; America's secret option - a limited invasion; a crude partition -the British defend Turkish enclaves; the NATO plot - plans to split Cyprus; fallen allies - Grivas risks war; the "red priest" -assassination target; crisis of trust - spying bases at risk; the invisible hand - the Greek colonels oust Makarios; searching questions - Kissinger and Callaghan are cross-examined; warnings of a coup - the CIA knew in advance; Washington stalls - Britain sends a task force; America's veto - Kissinger blocks military deterrent; the Turkish landing - Britain on the brink of war; a creeping invasion - talks at Geneva; the road to war - Kissinger over-rules Callaghan; to the Attila Line - US pressure contains the advances; sabotaged by Congress - the bitter legacy lives on; appendix - interview with Henry Kissinger.