These were perilous years for the young nation: hostile foreign powers, Britain in the North and Spain in the South, threatened American borders and interests; a powerful Indian confederacy north of the Ohio River had defeated one American army, destroyed another, and remained defiant; and what..…

Official signing ceremony creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Washington, 1949 Credit: EPA . . Nor are Britain’s vital national interests now more intertwined with those of its European neighbours than ever before. ..…