Britain's 1961 application was the first time that the European Community was obliged to consider a membership application from one of its neighbours. This 1997 book, based on material from the archives, challenges traditional views of the British application and casts light on the way in which the EEC responded to the challenge of enlargement. The author explains the initial inability of de Gaulle to oppose British membership, and draws attention to the hesitant and conditional nature of Britain's application. In combination these two factors ensured that the sixteen months of negotiations, and the balance the Six struck between their conflicting desires to widen and to deepen the Community, became crucial to the outcome of the UK's membership bid. This book provides a detailed analysis of a vital chapter in postwar European history, and offers important insights into differing conceptions of the European Community which persist in contemporary debates.

'Piers' study is precise and conclusive and excellently documented … will remain for a long time the authoritative book on the subject.' Max Kohnstamm, The European Policy Centre
'… an excellent account impeccably researched and extremely well balanced.' Sir Roy Denman, EEC Ambassador to the US 1982–9 and author of Missed Chances: Britain and Europe in the Twentieth Century
'In terms of the research that has gone into it, and its style of presentation, which is consistently elegant, the book stands also as an exemplar of the historian's craft.' Government and Opposition
'This is a well-written and careful analysis that adds a few twists to an already well-known tale, but which further draws attention to dilemmas that have arisen at each proposed enlargement since 1963.' Derek W. Urwin, History