Significantly, it also covers the years that Irish Defence Forces personnel first participated in peacekeeping missions with the United Nations. The volume pays particular attention to the reaction of Iveagh House to UN operations in Congo's Katanga province and includes documents on the Niemba Ambush (November 1960), and the fighting at Jadotville and Elisabethville (September 1961).
A constant theme through the volume is European integration and the volume includes the high-level diplomacy surrounding Ireland first application for membership of the European Economic Community in 1961.
Using original declassified documents from the Department of Foreign Affairs' archive, the volume pieces together as no other source can, the secret top-level decision making by Minister for External Affairs Frank Aiken, Taoiseach Sean Lemass and Irish diplomats, including household names Conor Cruise O'Brien and Ireland's Ambassador to the UN Frederick Boland that saw 1960s Ireland play a central role on the world stage.