War

Prime Minister Anthony Eden takes the country to war for the sake of the Suez Canal, and it is a decision which brings about the end of his political career.
The invasion took place as planned. But Eden had not informed the Americans.
When they found out, they were concerned about wider relations with the Arab world and refused to back the operation.
Desperately short of funds and without financial support from the Americans, the British were forced to pull out of Suez by December 1956.
As rumours mounted that Eden had colluded with Israel and France, he lied to the House of Commons.
He left office shortly afterwards.
Eden's widow, the Countess of Avon, recalls the pressures her husband faced. His private secretary remembers how regime change was always part of the agenda.
And Michael Parkinson describes how, as a young captain, he nearly came to grief at the hands of angry Egyptian civilians.