Most recent books on Cyprus tend to deal with the subject from either the Greek/Greek-Cypriot perspective or from that of the Turks; moreover most studies tend to concentrate on the period after the island's independence in 1960, with only a cursory glance at the background. Kelling makes up this shortcoming by analyzing British policy toward Cyprus from the early 1930s to the Greek-Cypriot rebellion of 1955. The reader is able to follow the development of nationalism on the island first among the Greeks and then among the Turkish minority. What emerges clearly from Kelling's discussion is how the British used the Turkish card, as they called it, to thwart Greek aspiration for enosis or Cyprus's union with Greece. But this book is broader than the title suggests; Kelling examines British attitudes (or minds) toward the colony, attitudes that are equally applicable to other colonial situations. Britain's Cyprus policy is placed in the context of a declining empire determined to remain a world power, especially after the loss of India, Palestine, and Egypt. Thus Kelling's monograph may be read with pleasure and profit not only by those interested in the history and politics of Cyprus but by anyone interested in the process of decolonization.