A comprehensive study of the peace negotiations which ended the American War of Independence. It challenges traditional views and uses a wide range of sources to provide an analysis of the treaties signed between Britain and France, Spain, the Netherlands, and the United States. It shows that American independence, rather than being the important issue of the negotiations, was consistently subordinated to European balance of power considerations. The book demonstrates the importance of personality and popular prejudice in determining foreign policy, and new insights are offered into the personalities and objectives of the leading political figures of the time, including George III, Charles James Fox, Lords Shelburne, North and Grantham, Louis XVI, the comte de Vergennes, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, John Adams, Catherine the Great and Frederick the Great.