Description
Book SynopsisChristopher Booker''s classic story of the European Union''s Great Deception, now updated with new material.
Now published with a new preface explaining why The Great Deception is of the utmost importance today as it was when it was first published and to coincide with Great Britain''s EU referendum in 2016, this book suggests that the United States of Europe and its edict of ''ever closer union'' have been based on a colossal confidence trick.
This book tells for the first time the inside story of the most audacious political project of modern times: the plan to unite Europe under a single ''supranational'' government. From the 1920s, when the blueprint for the European Union was first conceived by a British civil servant, this meticulously documented account takes the story right up to the moves to give Europe a political constitution, already planned 60 years ago to be the ''crowning dream'' of the whole project.
The book shows how the gradual
Trade Review
Carefully researched ... Everyone claims that there has to be a great debate about the EU. But this solid book has gone unanswered. * Books of the Year *
The authors perform a valuable service -- Brian Precious * Morning Star *
The literature on European integration is dominated by an uncritical historicism that implies that the superseding of the nation-state in Europe is both inevitable and culturally desirable. A skeptical narrative has long been overdue. * The Historian *
Table of Contents
Foreword and acknowledgements 1 The Early Days: 1918-1945 2 Try, Try and Try Again: The First Attempts at European Integration: 1945-1949 3 The Rocky Road to Rome: 1950-1957 4 'A Triumph for Monet': 1958-1961 5 Why de Gaulle Kept Britain Out: 1961-1969 6 The Real Deceit of Edward Heath: 1970-1972 7 Britain Stays In: 1973-1975 8 The Awkward Partner: 1975-1984 9 Enter Mr Spinelli: 1979-1986 10 Decline and Fall: 1986-1990 11 'At the Heart of Europe': 1990-1993 12 The Single Market: A Tale of Three Halves 13 Odd Man Out: 1993-1997 14 Towards 'Political Unity': 1997-1999 15 Hearts and Minds: 1999-2001 16 The Crowning Dream: 2002-2004 17 Downfall: 2004-2005 18 The Road to Lisbon: 2006-2009 19 The Euro Crisis: 2010-2012 20 Countdown to Referendum: 2012-2013 21 The Impossible Dream: 2014-2016 22 End Game: 2016-2020 Conclusion: End and a Beginning Index
