Diplomatic Gifts: A History in Fifty Presents

Gifts have been part of international relations since ancient times. They can serve as tokens of friendship, apology or authority; as taunts, bribes, boasts or tricks. They can also go wrong: Mali's 2013 gift of a camel to French President Francois Hollande was reported to have ended up in a tagine.

Exploring fifty diplomatic gifts given through the ages, Brummell explains the great complexity of this political art—an exercise in brand-building for the giver, via an item that must suit the r...