Synopsis
'Powerful, precise, morally engaged, wonderfully alert to character, context and the greater purpose of political life' Rory Stewart, author of Politics on the Edge
'Compelling, hugely well-informed . . . will stand for many years as the authoritative political history’ David Kynaston, author of Austerity Britain, 1945-1951
This is the definitive history of Britain’s tumultuous relationship with Europe – as it’s never been told before.
In a story of vaulting ambition and underhand politics, of nation, identity and belief, acclaimed political 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.
Drawing on unpublished sources and exclusive interviews, McTague unearths the roots of ideological conflict that raged between the leading politicians of the twentieth century as they fought for the future of Europe – Charles de Gaulle, Harold Macmillan, Jean Monnet, Enoch Powell and Margaret Thatcher.
Alongside these famous figures are the lesser-known actors in Britain’s great post-war drama: a coterie of Eurosceptic student radicals, Cold Warriors, eccentric billionaires and political strategists who turned the tide of history.
A riveting story of the clashing ideals that have pulled at Britain’s public imagination for more than seven decades, Between the Waves raises that most elemental of questions: who are we?
'A sweeping, impressive and ambitious history of modern Europe' Helen Lewis, author of Difficult Women
Details
04 September 2025
9781529083118Reviews
Between the Waves is powerful, precise, morally engaged, wonderfully alert to character, context and the greater purpose of political lifeRory Stewart, author of Politics on the Edge
This compelling, hugely well-informed narrative of how we came to leave Europe – a narrative involving the eternal interplay between character and fate as well as an exploration of the underestimated swirl of intellectual currents – will stand for many years as the authoritative political historyDavid Kynaston, author of Austerity Britain, 1945-1951
Lucid and witty, Tom McTague’s magisterial rethinking of postwar British history exposes the fatal ambiguity of our attitudes to Europe. Conspirators and fantasists abound in his sweeping account. Like a physician or psychiatrist, he diagnoses the maladies of anti-Europeanism, but knows there was to be no remedy, as Brexit only worsened British economic and social diseases. Here is a compelling and illuminating tour through recent history, from a wise and authoritative pen.Polly Toynbee
A sweeping, impressive and ambitious history of modern Europe -- and Britain's turbulent relationship with it. With a deft touch and deep research, Tom McTague has captured a tale of big personalities -- from Enoch Powell to Dominic Cummings -- and even bigger eventsHelen Lewis, author of The Genius Myth
