The Transformation of Western Europe (Chatham House Papers)

Written on the cusp of formalized European political and economic integration in 1992, William Wallace's "The Transformation of Western Europe" is a look back specifically at the economic forces that brought Western Europe towards unification via the European Union. Wallace posits that the true force behind Western Europe's political and economic integration was largely driven more by the economic desires of her people and businesses than by the political will of her politicians. Wallace points out that the motives and desires of Europeans have shifted greatly from the immediate post-World War II era, which tended to be one of temporariness and dependency on the United States, to an era of Europe coalescing and asserting its own independence of thought and action. Reading Wallace's concise history of European economic growth and interdependence it quickly becomes clear that Western Europe's need for economic integration should have been patently obvious to all by the 1960s and yet there were (and remain) naysayers who question its wisdom and long-term viability. From a personal perspective "The Transformation of Western Europe" gave me greater insight into the economic factors driving the unification of Europe forward that all too often is not included in most histories which tend to focus too much on the political events. There are minor points that bothered me such as the lack of an index, but Wallace's book is well researched and scrupulously footnoted; a breathtakingly concise trip from 1945 to 1990 that well deserves a revisit to bring it up to the present day.