The Great Deception: The True Story of Britain and the European Union

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 breaks 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.

Table of Contents:
Foreword and acknowledgements 1 The Early Days: 1918-1945 2 Try, Try and Try Again: The First Attempts at European Integration: 1945-1949 3 The Rocky Road to Rome: 1950-1957 4 'A Triumph for Monet': 1958-1961 5 Why de Gaulle Kept Britain Out: 1961-1969 6 The Real Deceit of Edward Heath: 1970-1972 7 Britain Stays In: 1973-1975 8 The Awkward Partner: 1975-1984 9 Enter Mr Spinelli: 1979-1986 10 Decline and Fall: 1986-1990 11 'At the Heart of Europe': 1990-1993 12 The Single Market: A Tale of Three Halves 13 Odd Man Out: 1993-1997 14 Towards 'Political Unity': 1997-1999 15 Hearts and Minds: 1999-2001 16 The Crowning Dream: 2002-2004 17 Downfall: 2004-2005 18 The Road to Lisbon: 2006-2009 19 The Euro Crisis: 2010-2012 20 Countdown to Referendum: 2012-2013 21 The Impossible Dream: 2014-2016 22 End Game: 2016-2020 Conclusion: End and a Beginning Index

About the Author :
Christopher Booker, a Sunday Telegraph columnist – now sadly deceased – and Richard North, who worked for four years in Brussels and Strasbourg as a senior researcher, have won a unique reputation for their expertise on Britain’s relationship with the European Union. Their previous publications included The Mad Officials (1994) and The Castle of Lies (1996). But they regarded The Great Deception as the book they had been waiting to write for ten years.

Review :
Carefully researched ... Everyone claims that there has to be a great debate about the EU. But this solid book has gone unanswered. The authors perform a valuable service "The literature on European integration is dominated by an uncritical historicism that implies that the superseding of the nation-state in Europe is both inevitable and culturally desirable. A skeptical narrative has long been overdue."- The Historian, Vol. 67, No. 4