Between the Waves

Longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction

The definitive history of Britain's tumultuous relationship with Europe— as it's never been told before.

"Powerful, precise, morally engaged, wonderfully alert to character, context and the greater purpose of political life" — Rory Stewart, author of Politics on the Edge

"Will stand for many years as the authoritative political history" — David Kynaston, author of Austerity Britain, 1945-1951

"A cut above other Brexit accounts . . . even the most passionate Remainer - or Leaver - should enjoy it enormously" — Dominic Sandbrook, The Sunday Times

In this lively history, acclaimed writer Tom McTague chronicles the battle of ideas, events, and personalities that first took the country into the Common Market in 1973, only to take it out of the European Union in an explosive referendum a little over forty years later.

A riveting story of the clashing ideals that have pulled at Britain's public imagination for more than seven decades, Between the Waves illuminates the conflicts between leading twentieth century politicians and the lesser-known actors in this great post-war drama: the Eurosceptic student radicals, Cold Warriors, eccentric billionaires, and political strategists who turned the tide of history.

Ultimately, this book raises that most elemental of questions: who are we?

"A sweeping, impressive and ambitious history of modern Europe" — Helen Lewis, author of Difficult Women