Continental Drift

"What a timely and illuminating book this is! In his richly detailed study of Britain's tempestuous relationship with the European Union, Benjamin Grob-Fitzgibbon shows that the shift from the post-war conviction that a unified Europe was beneficial to Britain to the current wave of Euroscepticism needs to be set in the context of the loss of empire and a longing for its return. A first-rate history that offers real insight into the roots of Euroscepticism."
Dane Kennedy, author of Decolonization: A Very Short Introduction

"This is an intensely readable and engaging study of that most perennial issue in post-war British public life: 'Europe'. Benjamin Grob-Fitzgibbon deftly weaves personalities, parties, and policies in a compelling study which places Britain and Europe in the context of Britain and the world, to the further illumination of each. Continental Drift deserves to become a standard work."
Martin Farr, author of Reginald McKenna

"In this absorbing study, Benjamin Grob-Fitzgibbon tackles head-on a theory routinely invoked by politicians and pundits but almost never subjected to serious scholarly scrutiny - that Britain's turbulent membership of the European Union has long been plagued by the unreconciled longings of empire. Continental Drift not only offers a compelling diagnosis of a major scholarly oversight, but also brings Britain's imperial past into a fascinating dialogue with its troubled European present."
Stuart James Ward, editor of British Culture and the End of Empire

"No other book does as good a job of making clear the critical connection between the dissolution of the British Empire and Britain's evolving relationship with Europe. The reader remains fully engaged throughout while discovering sophisticated yet clear, reasoned arguments and conclusions based on original sources and a sure grasp of post-Second World War British history."
Wm. Roger Louis, University of Texas