More typical than Nicolson's elegant husks is what might be called the practical-or even unreflective cosmopolitanism exhibited by Frank Roberts when he recalls his role as Britain's ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the 1950s. He suggests that his position was unusual because he was "like any Ambassador, the representative of his country, but at the same time share a collective responsibility as a member of the Council'. As a consequence, it was his duty not only to represent British views on the Council but also to press upon London, when required, the collective views of the Council in addition to reporting those of Spaak, Norstaad and individual national representatives'. It is pressing rather than reporting which is important here, and on one occasion "pressing upon London' resulted in Roberts being summoned to 10 Downing Street after Earl Mountbatten complained about his support for American generals in an argument with their British counterparts. Roberts makes no explicit judgment about his conduct and discusses neither his conception of his role nor the issues raised by his carpeting. Nevertheless, one senses a confidence bordering on smugness that Roberts believes that he was right, Mountbatten was wrong, and that anyone with a grasp of diplomacy would agree.