{"product_id":"britains-europe-9780141983905","title":"Britains Europe","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e''Dazzling ... a trenchant, provocative account of the intimate relations  of Britain and Europe and how each shaped the other'' \u003ci\u003eProspect Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e''Elegant,  refreshing and wide-ranging ... this is essentially a brief history of  the UK but a deliciously different one'' \u003ci\u003eLiterary Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBritain has always had a tangled, complex, paradoxical role in Europe''s history. It has invaded and been invaded, changed sides, stood aloof, acted with both brazen cynicism and the cloudiest idealism. Every century troops from the British isles have marched across the mainland in pursuit of a great complex of different goals, foremost among them the intertwined defence of parliamentary liberty in Britain and the ''Liberties of Europe''. Dynastically Britain has been closely linked to countries as varied as Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and France.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this bracing and highly enjoyable book, Brendan Simms describes the highlights and low-points in the Euro-\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEntertaining and cogently argued... an eloquent argument -- Tony Barber * Financial Times *\u003cbr\u003eA dazzling perspective on the current EU referendum debate * Prospect Magazine *\u003cbr\u003eLike all truly stimulating and original works, this is a book worth reading even if one ultimately disagrees with the author's conclusions, or if the time is not yet ripe for their realisation -- Robert Gerwarth * Irish Times *\u003cbr\u003eEntertaining -- Dominic Sandbrook * The Times *\u003cbr\u003eWith supreme confidence, Simms distils 1,000 years of history into a simple constant: Britain's role has always been to prevent the domination of the Continent by a single power...Britain, in other words, has always been part of Europe. To deny that fact is to ignore the past. -- Gerard Degroot * The Times *\u003cbr\u003eIn his spirited new book, \"Britain's Europe\", Brendan Simms, a historian at Cambridge University, argues that the whole notion of an island story is wrong. Britain's history, he says, is above all about continental Europe...Mr Simms makes a powerful case. * The Economist *\u003cbr\u003eHis book aims to demonstrate that the history of the British isles has never been an isolated one, and that \"our island story\" has always, in ­reality, been continental. -- Mark Mazower * New Statesman *\u003cbr\u003eA fascinating, engaging book, which exemplifies how a balanced and mature long-term historical perspective might have informed present-day political policy -- Joad Raymond * BBC History Magazine *\u003cbr\u003eWide-ranging and thoughtful... a timely and important study that places Brexit and the difficulties of the EU in an illuminating historical context. -- PD Smith * Guardian *\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49083367686487,"sku":"9780141983905","price":10.44,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780141983905.jpg?v=1725548695","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/britains-europe-9780141983905","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}