This is a succinct, timely introduction to one of the most highly charged political questions which has dominated British politics since 1945: Britain's position in Europe. The study traces the evolution of British policy towards Europe since 1945, presenting the full international context as well as the impact on domestic party politics - including an analysis of the divisions in the Conservative Party under John Major.
Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize • Winner of the Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Book Award • One of the New York Times' Ten Best Books of the Year “Impressive . . . Mr. Judt writes with enormous authority.” —The Wall Street Journal “Magisterial . . . It is, without a doubt, the most comprehensive, authoritative, and yes, readable postwar history.” —The Boston Globe Almost a decade in the making, this much-anticipated grand history of postwar Europe from one of the world's most esteemed historians and intellectuals is a singular achievement. Postwar is the first modern history that covers all of Europe, both east and west, drawing on research in six languages to sweep readers through thirty-four nations and sixty years of political and cultural change-all in one integrated, enthralling narrative. Both intellectually ambitious and compelling to read, thrilling in its scope and delightful in its small details, Postwar is a rare joy. Judt's book, Ill Fares the Land, republished in 2021 featuring a new preface by bestselling author of Between the World and Me and The Water Dancer, Ta-Nehisi Coates.
This book examines Britain and Norway in Europe from 1945 through to the former's departure from the European Union in 2020. It compares their European relations and investigates their bilateral relationship within the contexts of security, trade and, above all, European integration. Britain and Norway are outsiders in Europe, and they have both been sceptical of the continental federalist approach to European integration. The question of membership itself has been highly controversial in both countries: the public has been divided on the issue; it has plagued political parties and governments; and prime ministers have resigned over European issues. This book explores why these countries have struggled so deeply with the idea of Europe since 1945, and looks ahead to how the relationship between Britain and Norway might develop after Brexit.
This important book offers a refreshing and challenging perspective on the nature of history by analyzing the character, role, functioning and wider uses of historiography. Taking British policies toward European integration since the Second World War as a case study, the author demonstrates how its interpretation and reportage over time is subject to changing trends. Seeking to explain these trends in terms of the different conceptions of the past which are maintained by different schools of writing, it forces us to confront the fundamental difficulties we encounter in undertaking studies in history. It draws attention to the impact on historical interpretation of changing times, political discourse, the opening of archives, and of subjects being brought to the fore by professional historians.
This book provides both a comprehensive introduction and a perceptive examination of Britain’s relations with the European Community and the European Union since 1945, combining an historical account with political analysis to illustrate the changing and multifaceted nature of British and European politics. Few issues in British politics since 1945 have generated such heated controversy as Britain’s approach to the process of European integration associated with the European Union. The long-running debate on the subject has not only played a major part in the downfall of prime ministers and other leading political figures but has also exposed major fault-lines within governments and caused deep and rancorous divisions within and between the major political parties. This highly contested issue has given rise to bitter campaigning in the press and between pressure groups, and it has bemused, confused and divided the public at large. Key questions addressed include: Why has Europe had such an explosive impact on British politics? What impelled British policymakers to join the European Community and to undertake one of the radical, if not the most radical, changes in modern British history? What have been the perceived advantages and disadvantages of British membership of the European Union? Why has British membership of the European Union rarely attracted a national consensus? Engaging with both academic and public debates about Britain and the European Union, this volume is essential reading for all students of British history, British politics, and European politics.
The region between the Baltic and the Black Sea was marked by a set of crises and conflicts in the 1920s and 1930s, demonstrating the diplomatic, military, economic or cultural engagement of France, Germany, Russia, Britain, Italy and Japan in this highly volatile region, and critically damaging the fragile post-Versailles political arrangement. The editors, in naming this region as "Middle Europe" seek to revive the symbolic geography of the time and accentuate its position, situated between Big Powers and two World Wars. The ten case studies in this book combine traditional diplomatic history with a broader emphasis on the geopolitical aspects of Big-Power rivalry to understand the interwar period. The essays claim that the European Big Powers played a key role in regional affairs by keeping the local conflicts and national movements under control and by exploiting the region's natural resources and military dependencies, while at the same time strengthening their prestige through cultural penetration and the cultivation of client networks. The authors, however, want to avoid the simplistic view that the Big Powers fully dominated the lesser players on the European stage. The relationship was indeed hierarchical, but the essays also reveal how the "small states" manipulated Big-Power disagreements, highlighting the limits of the latters' leverage throughout the 1920s and the 1930s.
This engaging and concise new edition offers the student and general reader a compact, readable treatment of British membership of the European Union (EU) from 1973 up until the present day and Brexit, with detailed analysis of the period 1945-1972 accounting for Britain's absence from the formation of the EU. It provides a highly distilled and accessible analysis and overview of some of the parameters and recurring features of Britain’s membership of the European Union, touching on all the major facets of membership at this critical time in Britain’s relationship with Europe. Key features of the new edition: examines the constant and changing character of British membership of the EU; discusses the problematical and often paradoxical features of EU membership; familiarises the reader with both academic and public debates about the subject; offers thematic treatment of all aspects of policy and attitudes towards the EU; significantly restructured and updated to include the origins of the decision to hold a referendum on UK membership of the EU, the campaign, explanations for its outcome, and the course, substance and implications of the UK-EU Brexit negotiations. This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and the generally interested reader in the areas of European Politics/Studies, British Politics, EU Politics/Studies, Area Studies and International Relations.
A fascinating new account of Britain's uneasy relationship with the European continent since the end of the Second World War, set against the backdrop of decolonization, the Cold War and the Anglo-American relationship. Benjamin Grob-Fitzgibbon charts Britain's evolution from an island of imperial Europeans to one of post-imperial Eurosceptics.
During World War 2, London was transformed into a European city, as it unexpectedly became a place of refuge for many thousands of European citizens seeking refuge from military campaigns on the Continent of Europe.
This volume provides an up-to-date and comprehensive introduction to British policy in Europe. By exploring the schisms within the party over Europe, through primary source-based history and theoretical discourses of political science, N.J. Crowson gives the reader the best sense of understanding of how and why the Conservative party’s policy attitudes to European integration have evolved. The Conservative Party and European Integration since 1945 adopts a thematic line based around two chronological periods, 1945–75 and 1975–2006, and uses different methodological approaches. It explores the shifting stances amongst Conservatives within an economic, political and international context as the party adjusted to the decline of Britain’s world role and the loss of empire. Crowson analyzes Britain’s role and relationship with Europe together with the study of the Conservative Party, and deals with economic, commercial and monetary issues, successfully bridging a serious gap in any discussion of the UK’s relations with the European Union and appreciation of the political world in which Conservative European policy has been framed and pursued since 1945. This book is recommended for background reading in undergraduate courses in British politics and European history.
