Diplomat Without Portfolio

Valentine Chirol played a singular part in alerting the world to the dangers of conflict as war clouds gathered over a fast modernizing world. A committed imperialist, Chirol travelled tirelessly throughout the British Empire and supervised an outstanding team of foreign correspondents posted from Tokyo to Tangier, Berlin to Johannesberg. He explained the reasons for wars from South Africa to China, and analysed revolutions in Teheran, Constantinople and St. Petersburg.