Tom McTague is one of the best contemporary writers on the intersection of domestic politics with wider events and the role of character and quirk in shaping what follows. In Between the Waves: The Hidden History of a Very British Revolution 1945-2016, the writer turned New Statesman editor undertakes a bold sweep of Britain’s up-and-down postwar relations with the European Union and the multifarious cast who shaped the long road to Brexit.
Thankfully it’s not a “pro” or “con” book about the consequences of the 2016 Leave vote, but a sifting of decades of argument about how a medium-sized island with a more transatlantic outlook than its neighbours, a stroppy streak and — at times — delusional belief in its exceptionalism, could relate to a project of post-war integration.
