Design for a New Europe

This is a book not only about how the European integration process broke down, but also about how it can be repaired. That it should be fixed is obvious. Europe's long-term movement toward closer economic and political union deserves credit for two immense historical achievements. One is to have created a single-market economy across the continent, the overall benefits of which are almost incalculable yet continue to mount. Even more importantly, and in spite of present problems, the European Union has in the past strengthened democracies in places where they already exist and helped spread them to where they do not.

John Gillingham is professor of history at the University of Missouri, St. Louis