Retief at Large — Keith Laumer

COSMIC DIPLOMACY AND MACHIAVELLIAN INTRIGUE

The official accounts of Terra's efforts in the field of interstellar diplomacy during the 29th century are available for the dialing to anyone willing to pore through the records of the Corps Diplomatique Terrestrienne.

For those of sufficient discernment, however, it will be evident that the Corps' records, incredibly voluminous though they be, fail to tell the whole truth-- indeed to some degree must obscure it. Surely if it had been guarded solely by the efforts of such persons as Ambassadors Magnan, Thunderstroke and Grossblunder, Terra's Sphere of Influence would have crumpled instantly before the diplomatic assaults of the Groaci. That it did not demonstrates that other factors were at work.

One such factor was a career diplomat named James Retief. Contained here are several accounts of his achievements, illustrating how a few able men were able to save the galaxy for Man.