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Is there any such thing as a European identity? Amidst all the kaleidoscopic variety what - if anything - do 28 members of the EU have in common? Green argues the facts of history have created shared interests and cultural connections that are in the end more important than the differences.
List of contents
What does it mean to be European?
The Europeans: caught in the headlights?
Identity in variety?
Enlightenment or enlightenments? The birth of a new European identity?
The inevitable bonds of geography and history
The United States of Europe?
A Fragile union of fragile identities?
Layers of identity and loyalty
Where next?
Notes
About the author
Stephen Green was an international banker and Minister for Trade and Investment between 2011-13. He chairs the Natural History Museum, is an ordained priest of the Church of England, and sits as a Conservative peer in the House of Lords. He is the author of
Reluctant Meister: How Germany's Past is Shaping its European Future.
Summary
Is there any such thing as a European identity? Amidst all the kaleidoscopic variety what - if anything - do 28 members of the European Union have in common? If the EU is to succeed the big states of Europe must discover and define that common identity.
Additional text
"[A] series of nifty little essays—the thinking person’s commuting read."
— Independent, on the Haus Curiosities series
"Haus is to be congratulated for its courage in dusting off the political pamphlet format and publishing a series of essays, short enough to be read in one sitting, in the internet age."
— Times Higher Education, on the Haus Curiosities series
“Stephen Green—Baron Green of Hurstpierpoint—is an articulate and compelling writer and thinker. . . . [He] articulates incisively, convincingly, and without romance the rationale behind the decline of the power of European states on the global scene. His well-researched and contextual arguments provide a lesson for non-European readers and a wake-up call to Europeans.”
— Defense & Foreign Affairs Special Analysis
“Green argues the prime case for Europe as shared values rather than share values. . . . Certainly this short book should be compulsory reading for the Remain campaign, offering as it does some inspiration, hope and spice for those who self-define as Europeans. . . . The real shock is that this is a Tory . . . who is making the best case for Europe I’ve read in a long time. David Cameron eat your heart out!”
— Tribune Magazine (UK)
