The 1956 joint strike on Egypt by Britain, France, and Israel resulted in international political turmoil. For each of the contenders there was much more at stake than just the future of the Suez Canal, and the events surrounding the invasion were full of high drama and intrigue, with elements of political farce. Eyewitness accounts and primary documents, many of which have never been published before, help show that—for all its brevity—the Suez Crisis had a deeper impact on world affairs than many other more famous conflicts.