Overview

European integration has many origins, although its history goes back less far than is often assumed. This study offers an accessible and engaging overview of the past and present of today's European Union, from the postwar era to the present day. Beginning with the foundational treaties of the 1950s, the book examines how the EU became an increasingly global actor through the 1980s and 1990s. Focusing particularly on recent developments, Kiran Klaus Patel explores how the EU's current role was far from a given and remains fragile. Looking beyond public discourse fixated on crisis, Patel highlights the adaptability and resilience of the EU and how it has turned challenges into opportunities and expanded its own role in the process. This book sheds new light on the past in order to understand the present – and possible options for the future. In the process, it challenges conventional wisdoms of Europhiles and Eurosceptics alike.

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9781009717151

Table of Contents

Reviews

'If you read one book on the European Union, this should be it. By explaining how the EU came to be what it is through history, he illuminates what it is now. An outstanding work of distilled scholarship.' Timothy Garton Ash, New York University 'Based on extensive research, this is a clear and nuanced account of the improbable and incremental process of European integration which has made the EU into an essential player on the international scene. The book is especially useful for teaching since it contains review questions, explanatory boxes, a detailed timeline, numerous images, and an extensive bibliography.' Konrad H. Jarausch, author of Embattled Europe: A Progressive Alternative 'An original and accessible survey of the accomplishments and limitations of the European Union, its steady institutional expansion and shifting goals, its utopian aspirations and political compromises. Patel's book is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding how the EU has come to shape economics, politics and society across Europe.' Mary Nolan, author of The Transatlantic Century: Europe and America, 1890–2010

Author Information

Kiran Klaus Patel holds the Chair for Modern History at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich where he also serves as the director of Project House Europe, LMU's centre for interdisciplinary research on the history of contemporary Europe. His teaching and research focus on European and US history. Previous publications include Project Europe: A History (Cambridge, 2020).

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