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The original edition of this book was written between 2000 and 2002, when I was lecturer in Italian history and politics in the department of European Studies at the University of Bath. I made too many friends at Bath to list them here, but I enjoyed the hardworking, dynamic atmosphere of the department.

I subsequently moved to the University of Trento, where, among other things, I taught European integration history at both undergraduate and graduate levels. I learned much from two exceptional colleagues, Marco Brunazzo and Vincent della Sala, who remain close friends.

In 2010 I moved to the Johns Hopkins Center for Advanced International Studies in Bologna (SAIS Europe) as a visiting professor and stayed. European Integration: A Concise History, the previous edition of this book, was prepared and written during the first two years of my time at SAIS. I would particularly like to thank the two directors of the Center since 2010, Kenneth H. Keller and Michael Plummer, for much friendship and support. The presence on the faculty of Raffaella Del Sarto, Erik Jones, Michael Leigh, and Filippo Taddei ensures that SAIS retains its place as an important center for research and teaching on all aspects of European studies.

Two other colleagues at SAIS have contributed more than they may realize to the development of this volume. Justin Frosini and I have taken our “roadshow” on Brexit all over Italy and have also collaborated on teaching and on a research article in the Journal of European Public Policy. Justin is as generous as the day is long and is much wiser than I am: I tend to take his advice. Christopher Hill has been an endless intellectual stimulus on matters European and a sympathetic friend.

This new edition owes much to discussions with scholars and friends who work on contemporary European political history, law, and politics: Lucia Coppolaro, Piers Ludlow, Agustin Menendez, Daniele Pasquinucci, Kiran Patel, Federico Romero, and Antonio Varsori are just a few of the scholars who have greatly influenced my thinking on EU history.

I began writing this book in January 2019 while on a sabbatical from SAIS as Visiting Research Fellow at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University. The nine weeks I spent in Cambridge were remarkably stimulating and productive: I can only thank the Master and Fellows of the College for making me feel so welcome. During my sabbatical, I also edited the German Yearbook of Contemporary History, the annual English-language publication of the IfZ in Munich. Eva Oberloskamp and Thomas Raithel, the co-editors, were a pleasure to work with and became friends.

This book is the fifth I have written in conjunction with Susan McEachern of Rowman & Littlefield. As always, she has been a monument of patience and good sense.

I am tempted to thank Boris Johnson, for “getting Brexit done” and enabling me to finish a manuscript that was scheduled to go to press in June 2019. My brother, Martyn, certainly approves of Mr. Johnson. Martyn is an ardent Euroskeptic, and I have passed many hours arguing with him about Brexit and, before that, Britain’s role within the “European superstate.” Ultimately, I don’t agree with most of his views, but there is no denying that he was a shrewder interpreter of the public mood in 2016 than most scholars of politics.

Most of all, I would like to thank my wife, Luciana, and son, Francisco. Francis was an infant when the original edition came out and is now a student of medicine at Bologna University. Time flies. This book is rededicated to him and to the rest of our family in England and in Italy.