'Students across the social sciences and history will be grateful for this volume for it realizes the promise of broad-ranging interdisciplinary research in a unique and compelling way. No volume reveals more insightfully how, in the early decades of European integration, societal groups shaped Europe and Europe shaped societal groups. The result is an original set of excellent chapters that ... Read moreilluminate the dynamics of Europe's multilevel polity.' Gary Marks, Burton Craige Distinguished Professor of Political Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA 'Contemporary historians are currently making a decisive contribution to the new sociology of the European Union. This tightly organised volume illustrates how an interdisciplinary historical viewpoint can contribute to our understanding of the role of societal actors in the EU, who have influenced policy-making and polity-building as much in its early days as in the post-Maastricht era.' Adrian Favell, Professor of Sociology, Centre d'études européennes, Sciences Po, Paris, France 'This is a highly innovative book on the historical impact of societal actors on national European policies and the politics of European integration.' Hartmut Kaelble, Professor of Social History, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany Show Less