This work investigates the complex interplay between national political interests and economic integration during the formative years of the European Union. Alan S. Milward, a distinguished historian of European integration, utilizes archival research and economic analysis to challenge the notion that the European Union was solely a product of supranational idealism. He argues that the development of European institutions was primarily a strategic response by individual nation-states to preserve their domestic political and economic stability in the post-war era.

Experts recognize this volume as a foundational text for understanding the pragmatic origins of European integration. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose and the rigorous historical methodology employed by the author.