Christian Democracy and the Origins of European Union. By Wolfram Kaiser. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. 2007. Pp. xii+374. Cloth $105.00. ISBN 978-0-521-88310-8.

摘要

The history of European unity is not sexy. Historians have largely left it tornpolitical scientists, who in “historical innocence” (p. 2) have adopted rationalrnchoice models stressing nation-states’ economic interests. Drawing on researchrnin twenty-seven archives in eight countries, Wolfram Kaiser expertly fills thisrngap by integrating the origins of European unity into European history, in par-rnticular by documenting the links among transnationalism’s leaders. That thesernindividuals came overwhelmingly from Catholic milieux underscores thernembeddedness of the European Union’s origins in Christian democratic politicsrnand ideologies. Kaiser’s outstanding account demonstrates persuasively thernCatholicity of European unity; in so doing, it reminds us of the salience ofrnreligious culture to twentieth-century European history.