This study is a multi-archival documentary history of British policy towards Nasser's Egypt under the Churchill, Eden, Macmillan, Home and Wilson governments. It makes wide-ranging use of recently released British and American documentary sources, as well as a comprehensive survey of the published secondary sources. The primary focus of the study is an enquiry into the causes of the Anglo-Egyptian Cold War from 1952 to 1967. These include the influence of history, Suez, the clash of a declining power, Britain, and a rising power, Egypt, as well as the role of personality. The book argues that the key factor was a real clash of national interests between Britain and Egypt. The national interests at variance were Britain's requirements for bases in the Middle East to protect its oil and as staging posts for its East of Suez role. These ran contrary to the Egyptian foreign policy goals of regional predominance and opposition to imperialism. As a result of the 1967 Middle Eastern war, Egypt's priority became the restoration of lost territory while the growing economic problems of Britain as illustrated by her devaluation of the pound led to the abandonment of its Middle Eastern positions.