The exclusion of nuclear vessels from New Zealand ports in 1985 led the American Government to suspend the security guarantee which was the keystone of New Zealand's defence for over thirty years. In 1951, when Australia, New Zealand and the United States signed the Anzus Pact, a British minister dubbed it a 'parting of the ways' and Winston Churchill fought hard to gain a British place in the alliance.

In this lively and revealing study of the background to Anzus, David McIntyre places it firmly in its Cold War context. He shows that, as well as guaranteeing Australia and New Zealand security so they could accept a 'peace of reconciliation' with Japan, Anzus was designed to 'bolt the back door' so that the Anzacs could help Britain defend the Middle East in a global war and protect bases from which atomic bombers could strike at the heart of the Soviet Union.