This book reassesses the transformation of European diplomacy which took place at the beginning of the twentieth century. It focuses on the British and Russian diplomatic establishments during the years 1894-1917 in order to illustrate both the heterogeneity and complex nature of the ''Old Diplomacy''. The book will ''ground'' discussion in a series of case-studies designed to illustrate both the benefits and the pitfalls of generalizing about a complicated process of transformation that had a range of social, political, administrative and psychological dimensions.