Brocklehurst's impressive work breaks new ground in normative international political theory. It develops a new theoretical framework which exposes how children are present in international relations and security practices using an empirical and comparative assessment of the role of children and youth in a range of conflicts including Nazi Germany, Mozambique, South Africa, Northern Ireland, the Cold War and the British Empire. It claims that concepts of children are partial and 'contained' through their construction as non-political. Global in scope, it has resonance with more recent use of children evident after September 11. High profile reportage of children, their future in the family, as citizens, and as fodder of the post-cold war world, is now increasingly met with research on children as complex social and cultural actors. The political and ethical question at the heart of this book is 'will international relations dare to catch up?'.