Bloomsbury Britain, France and Europe, 1945-1975: The Elusive Alliance

Britain, France and Europe, 1945-1975 offers a comparative history of sharply contrasting national experiences in the aftermath of the Second World War. Perceived as a failing power, post-war France seized the initiative in European construction, gaining ascendancy in Western Europe; Britain became the sick man. How and why did the French outsmart their arch-rivals? Drawing on American, British and French official records, together with private papers and interviews, Anthony Adamthwaite explores the reasons for French success. As well as reassessing Britain's membership bids for the European Community, the analysis evaluates key influences: the mental maps of decision makers; leadership styles; the post-1945 international system; policy making machinery; the 'democratic deficit' in British and French politics; public opinion. Britain's altercation with the Community's French doorkeeper, argues the author, ignored the elephant in the room - the need for a revived entente in the Cold War era. An Anglo-French couple powering European unity could have repositioned Western Europe as partner, not client of the United States. This enlightening study highlights the importance of contingency and individual actors, and will be of great interest to scholars of modern European history.