The Pathway of Peace

First published in 1927 and delivered as the Watson Chair Lectures to various British universities in the same year, this book sets out 'the progress of that mutual understanding between the American and British governments' which has flourished in the peaceful period lasting from the end of the War of 1812. American academic McElroy examines certain 'typical episodes' in Anglo-American relations since the Declaration of Independence and comments on their wider diplomatic significance. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in understanding the United States and the history of the 'special relationship'.

Introduction; 1. The international mind; indispensable prerequisite of lasting peace; 2. Some permanent conditions underlying British-American relations; 3. Political alliances and peace and war; England, France and America in the days of the Grand Coalition; 4. Negotiation as a substitute for war; Jay's treaty of 1794; 5. Economic pressure as a substitute for war; England, France and America in the Napoleonic epoch; 6. The Monroe Doctrine; isolation as a substitute for war; 7. A vision postponed; the rejected British-American General Arbitration Treaty of 1897, and the World Court; Appendix.