The period since 1945 has seen political events and socio-economic developments of enormous significance for the human race. This series explores these developments. The impact of the European Community upon governments and citizens, both in the EEC itself and in the world beyond, is growing. Moreover the concept of a wider Europe has become a significant political factor in the postwar world. Derek Urwin traces the movement towards political and economic integration in Western Europe from the calls for a federal Europe that were made by the European Resistance movements and their immediate postwar successors, through to the demands that are now heard for complete monetary and partial political union. It reviews the postwar debates over the kind of integration desired and also examines the history of the European Community after 1957.