The island of Cyprus, long troubled by inter-communal strife, exploded onto the world stage with the Athens-inspired coup against President Makarios and Turkey's invasion that followed. This resulted in the partition of the Island, which was policed by UNFICYP under the most testing conditions. These dramatic events are described here for the first time in this definitive work which examines the political and military background, the Greek and Turkish forces and the make-up and operations of the multi-national UN Force.