The states we’re in A map of the Holy Roman Empire surrounded by portraits of its emperors, 1770. Anthony Pagden’s new book focuses on the idea of a united Europe
The Pursuit of Europe: A History by Anthony Pagden Oxford University Press, 432 pages, £25
BRIDGEMAN
In his new book, The Pursuit of Europe, Anthony Pagden vigorously asserts the possibility – indeed, the necessity – of resuming and completing the “European project”. By this he means the creation not of a European superstate but “a new post-national order united in a political life based not upon the old shibboleths of nationalism and patriotism but upon a common body of values and aspirations”.
European unity is made possible, he argues, by the two enduring and fundamental factors of representative government and the networks of internal trade that created its self-sufficiency in all basic essentials of life.