Guide to the European Union cover art

Guide to the European Union

The Economist

Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

€0.00/month for the first 3 months
Try for £0.00
£8.99/mo thereafter. Renews automatically. Terms apply. Offer ends 31 July 2025 at 23:59 GMT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

Guide to the European Union

By: Dick Leonard
Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
Try for £0.00

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Offer ends 31 July 2025 23:59 GMT. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £15.99

Buy Now for £15.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

The 10th edition of the long-established definitive guide to the EU. From its original six members (who formed the European Economic Community in 1957) what became the European Union had grown to 27 members in 2007, with several more candidates for membership standing in the wings.

This long-established definitive guide to the workings of the EU provides

  • Comprehensive coverage of the institutions, the mechanisms, every area of EU competence from agriculture to workers' rights
  • The effects of the single market and the single currency and the successes and stresses of the euro zone
  • The implications of the Lisbon treaty
  • The impact of the enlargement of the EU and the prospects for further enlargement and for closer political integration

The Guide to the European Union is well-established as the clearest and most comprehensive guide to how the EU operates.

©2010 Dick Leonard (P)2013 Audible Ltd
Investing & Trading Politics & Government Inspiring Investing Imperialism Socialism Latin American Taxation Portugal Africa Capitalism

Listeners also enjoyed...

Business Strategy cover art
Stars with Stripes cover art
Brexit Briefly cover art
The Age of Awakening cover art
The European Union cover art
Don't Wait for the Next War cover art
The End of the Free Market cover art
The China Challenge cover art
Can Democracy Survive Global Capitalism? cover art
Russia Resurrected cover art
The Party and the People cover art
The Chinese Vortex cover art
Orchestration cover art
A Sense of Balance cover art
How China Loses cover art
Overheated cover art

Editor reviews

From the publishers of the august news magazine The Economist and veteran British journalist and former politician Dick Leonard, Guide to the European Union is a clear and comprehensive guide to what the EU is, why it exists, and how it operates. Performed in an elegant, authoritative manner by prolific British actor Gordon Griffin, the guide is in its 10th edition and is arranged into the following sections: The Background, the Institutions, the Competences, and the "Special Problems" facing the EU. A discussion of the future of the powerful union is provided. The guide should be of interest to any intelligent follower of the political state of our world, and perfect for any beginning student of Europe.

All stars
Most relevant  
I had failed to find much if any comment on the EU and its predecessors in Hobsbawm's histories and found this gave me what I was looking for., especially the early and latter most chapters. The middle is inevitably somewhat a recitation of historical data.

What is the real story of Europe since WW1&2

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

If you want a straight, matter-of-fact account of how the EU came into existence, then you should read this book. This would be ideal for A level politics students.

Excellent for politics students

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

What did you like most about Guide to the European Union?

The guide covers the various institutions of the European Union in detail and explains their histories and purposes clearly.The author is unashamedly pro-European and attributes all scepticism about the EU to irrational tribalism and nostalgia for empire. These emotions no doubt exists, but they are not the only reasons for doubts about the long term viability of the Union. The author's obvious contempt for referendums that have slowed down EU integration is an example of the sort of anti-democratic thinking that makes people question the whole project.

What other book might you compare Guide to the European Union to, and why?

This is a good book to listen to before the referendum, but before I make up my mind about how to cast my vote, I will seek out something from the other side for balance.

What about Gordon Griffin’s performance did you like?

The reader is very clear, although there are many long lists to read out that probably work better on paper in tables than aloud.

Good history but missing Recent events

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

The majority of this book concerns the organs of the EU - this is both necessary and hard work. Otherwise this is an excellent summary, which has encouraged me to vote to stay in and to be ashamed of the profile of the UK in Europe.

Solid

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

The book written 2009 so is completely out of date. Not clear at purchase.

Out of date and incomplete

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.