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Out Now - Open AccessThe new issue of the European History Yearbook on "Material Culture in Modern Diplomacy from the Fifteenth to the Twentieth Century" has been published.[caption id="attachment_104" align="alignleft" width="222"] Jahrbuch für Europäische Geschichte / European History Yearbook, vol. 17 (2016)[/caption]ed. by Harriet Rudolph and Gregor M. Metzig;with contributions by: Harriet Rudolph Gregor M. Metzig Michael Talbot Volker Depkat Frieder Günter Simone Derix and Matthew G. Stanard (Forum article)&#160;The open access volume outlines a new field of research with regard to the history of diplomacy: the material culture of diplomatic interaction in early modern and modern times. The material culture of diplomacy includes all practices in foreign policy communication in which single artifacts, samples of artifacts, or the whole material setting of diplomatic interaction is constitutive for creating an effect in terms of diplomatic objectives.The essays in this volume focus on intercultural diplomacy in different regions of the world wherein diplomatic actors of various kinds might have been confronted by a whole universe of unfamiliar artefacts and artefact related practices. Most of them concentrate on gift giving as a diplomatic practice that offers multiple insights in the complex dynamics of diplomatic relations between representatives of culturally highly diverse political entities. In doing so, they gainfully apply different theoretical approaches of material culture as an interdisciplinary field of study to the investigation of diplomatic cultures across the globe. As a result, it becomes obvious that future research into the history of diplomacy should take into account material practices much more thoroughly than has been done before.&#160;