Roy Dean, a world-beating crossword champion and all-round wordsmith is the Diplomat with a Difference. Of humble origins, he received no training in the civil service or diplomatic services, but despite this he rose to the rank of assistant undersecretary of state by using his initiative and unorthodox methods to bring about some useful international achievements. This interesting compendium of prose and verse is not only a memoir of his diplomatic career, but it also brings together a number of monographs, verses and articles on various subjects of interest to the author, written since his retirement from the diplomatic service in 1987.