This book looks at the cultural, political and economic conditions of British Euroscepticism. Focusing on eight British dystopian novels, published in the years before the decisive In/Out-Referendum, and taking into account cultural, political and economic contexts, Lisa Bischoff shows how the novels’ stance towards the integration project range from slight criticism to outright hostility. The wide availability of the novels, and the prominence of both its authors and readers, among which are political figures David Cameron, Nigel Farage and Daniel Hannan, amplify the power of literary Euroscepticism. Drawing on cultural studies, literature and social science, British Novels and the European Union reveals the many facets of British Euroscepticism.

Provides the untold story of the crises and compromises that lead to the formation of the European Union.

In this book, leading scholars of EU law, judges, and practitioners unpack the judicial reasoning offered by the UK Advocates General in over forty cases at the Court of Justice, which have influenced the shape of EU law. The authors place the Opinions in the wider context of the EU legal order, and mix praise with critique in order to determine the true contribution of the UK Advocates General, before hearing the concluding reflections by the UK Advocates General themselves. The role of Advocates General at the Court of Justice of the European Union remains notoriously under-researched. With a few notable exceptions, not much ink has been spilled on analysing their contribution to the judicial discourse that emerges from the Court's Palais in Luxembourg. More generally, their impact on the shaping of EU law is only sporadically explored. This book fills the lacunae by offering an in-depth analysis of the way in which the UK Advocates General contributed to development of EU law during 47 years of the UK's membership of the EU. During their terms of office, Advocates General Jean-Pierre Warner (1973-1981), Gordon Slynn (1981-1988), Francis Jacobs (1988-2006), and Eleanor Sharpston (2006-2020) delivered over 1400 Opinions. This staggering contribution of the four individuals and their cabinets of legal secretaries was supplemented by an Opinion of a then Judge of the Court of First Instance, David Edward, who was called to act as an Advocate General in two joined cases in what is now the General Court. With the last UK Advocate General departing from the Court of Justice in September 2020, an important era has ended. With this watershed moment, it is apt to take a look back and critically analyse the contribution to development of EU law made by the UK Advocates General, and to elucidate the lasting impact they have had on the nature of EU law.

Since its publication in 2003, The Great Deception has taken on the role of the Eurosceptics' bible, with the third edition helping to fuel the debate during the 2016 EU Referendum. This fourth edition celebrates the moment when the UK broke away from the European Union, having been extensively re-edited to incorporate newly available archive material, and updated to include the tumultuous events of recent years. The Great Deception, therefore, tells for the first time the inside story of the most audacious political project of modern times, from its intellectual beginnings in the 1920s, when the blueprint for the European Union was first conceived by a British civil servant, right up to the point when the UK resumes its path at as an independent sovereign nation after 47 years of membership of the European project in its various guises. Drawing on a wealth of new evidence and existing sources, scarcely an episode of the story does not emerge in startling new light, from the real reasons why de Gaulle kept Britain out in the 1960s to the fall of Mrs Thatcher and the build-up to the referendum campaign which had its roots in the Maastricht Treaty. The book chillingly shows how Britain's politicians were consistently outplayed in a game the rules of which they never understood. It ends by evaluating the post referendum negotiations and asking whether this is the end of an episode or just a new beginning.

“A dark comedy of manners packed with urgency” (H. W. Vail, Vanity Fair), The Capital is an instant classic of world literature. A highly inventive novel of ideas written in the rich European tradition, The Capital transports readers to the cobblestoned streets of twenty-first-century Brussels. Chosen as the European Union’s symbolic capital in 1958, this elusive setting has never been examined so intricately in literature. Translated with "zest, pace and wit" (Spectator) by Jamie Bulloch, Robert Menasse's The Capital plays out the effects of a fiercely nationalistic “union.” Recalling the Balzacian conceit of assembling a vast parade of characters whose lives conspire to form a driving central plot, Menasse adapts this technique with modern sensibility to reveal the hastily assembled capital in all of its eccentricities. We meet, among others, Fenia Xenopoulou, a Greek Cypriot recently “promoted” to the Directorate-General for Culture. When tasked with revamping the boring image of the European Commission with the Big Jubilee Project, she endorses her Austrian assistant Martin Sussman’s idea to proclaim Auschwitz as its birthplace—of course, to the horror of the other nation states. Meanwhile, Inspector Émile Brunfaut attempts to solve a gritty murder being suppressed at the highest level; Matek, a Polish hitman who regrets having never become a priest, scrambles after taking out the wrong man; and outraged pig farmers protest trade restrictions as a brave escapee squeals through the streets. These narratives and more are masterfully woven, revealing the absurdities—and real dangers—of a fracturing Europe. A tour de force from one of Austria’s most esteemed novelists, The Capital is a mordantly funny and piercingly urgent saga of the European Union, and an aerial feat of sublime world literature.

This collection explores British attitudes to Continental Europe that explain the Brexit decision. Addressing British-European entanglements and the impact of British Euroscepticism, the book argues that Britain is in denial about the strength of its ties to Europe. The volume brings together literary and cultural studies, history, and political science in an integrated analysis of views and practices that shape cultural memory. Part one traces the historical and political relationship between Britain and Europe, whilst Part two is devoted to exemplary case studies of films as well as popular Eurosceptic and historical fiction. Part three engages with border mindedness and Britain’s island story. The book is addressed both to specialists in cultural studies, and a wider audience interested in Brexit.