About the book: 1994 / Published in the magazine "If", No. 11–12 for 1994. The Second Secretary of the Diplomatic Corps of the State of Retief always emerges with honor from various legal and diplomatic puzzles. The four stories (“Mechanical Superiority”, “Bandits and Mandates”, “Peacemakers” and “Retreat is not bought”), presented in this issue of the magazine, are part of the cycle about the diplomat Retief. The space diplomat Retief, whom you will now meet, is a favorite hero Keith Laumer: the author dedicated fifteen books to him (the first was published in 1963). By the way, Laumer himself was the Third Secretary of the US Embassy in Burma in the late 50s, so he knows all the secrets of the diplomatic service firsthand. Today we are pleased to introduce the readers of the magazine to its inventive and witty hero.