Between the Waves: The Hidden History of a Very British Revolution 1945-2016

by Tom McTague

‘[Tom McTague] has been writing some of the best journalism about the crisis of British politics’ David Runciman

'Britain’s best political writer' Sebastian Payne

This is the underground history of Britain’s fractious relationship with Europe – as it’s never been told before.

In a story of vaulting ambition and underhand politics, of nation, identity and belief, acclaimed journalist Tom McTague chronicles the battle of ideas, events and personalities that first took the country into the European Union in 1973, only to take it back out again in an explosive referendum a little over forty years later.

Building on meticulous research, unpublished sources and exclusive interviews, Between the Waves journeys back to the roots of ideological conflict that formed between major political figures in the fight for the future of Europe – Charles de Gaulle, Harold Macmillan, Jean Monnet, Enoch Powell and Margaret Thatcher. McTague tracks the legacy of these political giants to show how the ideas of a rag-tag group of rebels – including the Eurosceptic Bruges group, billionaire James Goldsmith and influential strategist Dominic Cummings – went from the brink of obscurity to landmark victory in a little over a generation.

Between the Waves is a compulsive and enlightening portrait of one of the defining political stories of our time.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics, Audiobook

560 pages, Hardcover

Published September 4, 2025

Reviews

[Louis · Rating 4 out of 5]

We should pay more attention to the ideas of the right, rather than treating them only as epiphenomena. In that vein I welcome this intellectual-political history of Euroscepticism. I think McTague does a good job of tracing the development of opinion on Europe among conservative elites (and especially in the earlier stages, on the left as well) to show that it was almost always underpinned by an ambivalence about integration and an unwillingness to confront the implications of that ambivalence. Cakeism, you could say. Where he’s weaker is in delving into the roots of changing opinion (whose interests did different stages of euroscepticism serve?). He also sometimes elides elite opinion with ‘the public’ at large in a way that is unconvincing.

[Matt's Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compelling, if uneven, political history of Britain's postwar relationship with Europe. McTague follows our intrinsic national Euroscepticism, arguing that no Prime Minister - with the exception of Ted Heath - ever truly embraced European unity. Britain pursued a half-in, half-out stance driven by lingering imperial delusions: an urge to shape Europe while maintaining a unique separation. Decades of 'cakeism' ensued, of membership without obligations which would tie Britain into ever closer political and financial union.

McTague's focus on key personalities is insightful, if sometimes heavy-handed. It's unclear how the 'sceptred isle' conservatism of Roger Scruton or Norman Stone influenced or reflected public opinion, although their indirect effects - through a formative influence on Michael Gove or Dominic Cummings - were perhaps profound.

Inspired, among others, by Rick Perlstein's sweeping histories of insurgent American conservatism, McTague's narrative shines once we reach the 1980s and the rumblings of a targeted, grassroots Eurosceptic movement. But the first half lacks fresh insights (beyond the surprising Algiers contingency) and seems unimaginatively structured around election cycles. A deeper look at left-wing Eurosceptics like Tony Benn and Michael Foot would have added richness, or otherwise I would be minded to start the story proper with the Thatcher–Delors clashes of the latter 1980s.

Despite these flaws, Between the Waves is a reflective account, wistful in places, of Britain wrestling with its past and future self-conception through the prism of its European relations.

[Ben Greenbury · Rating 3 out of 5]

An impressive achievement; well-written and researched. McTague’s central thesis - that British Politicians have been unable to face up to the core principle of the EU, political unification - is very credible. I particularly enjoyed his account of the emergence of the individuals and groups in the 1980’s which lead us out of the EU. Also, his point on the myth of the EU as a way to promote British ‘influence’ is an effective inversion of the point made against Brexiteers of imperial nostalgia. This would be a great starting point for someone interested in the subject. I did, however, have a few criticisms.

1) The juxtaposition between the Monnet EU and UK works but it leaves European politics, and even the EU itself, seeming static and stale. McTague never really captures the debates within the EU and Europe over Monnet’s original idea and I question whether the UK is as unique as the books makes it seem.

2) The works is very “high political” history and focuses on key individuals or groups and their intellectual roots. McTague is then unable to really offer an effective explanation for why the public is so lukewarm to the EU beyond allusions to Conservative and Modernist thought. In other books of this sort, this is less of an issue but, in a history of a modern democracy, the analysis is weakened.

3) Some of the book reads awkwardly due to the fact that for many people, as Matthew Eliot acknowledges, the EU is a second-order issue. I read some chapters about Prime Ministers seemingly embattled and weakened by this issue, only for the chapter to be ended with them being returned with a stonking great majority. This probably ties into criticism 2 and the lack of public opinion.

[Simon Mee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the reviews already have already picked up on the good/bad points, and I am not massively familiar with 20th century UK history (or 19th century or 18th cent…)

It does feel like a journalist’s book, with a reliance on interviews rather than detailed explanations of institutions, mass movements or treaties. That can lead to confusion, such as when describing the abortive European Defence Council in reference to NATO, without having even introducing NATO first. In that sense it compares poorly with where the time-periods described overlap.

However, I do believe there is value in this book if you treat it as an oral history of some of the major players in Britain’s European integration/dis-integration. McTague gives us a look at some of the anti-European lobby groups and ,while I am not sure how much influence they actually wielded, they add some pieces to the puzzle of Brexit and explain the nature of the 2016 campaign.

As a qualification to the above, Between the Waves is elitest, or at least favourable to the viewpoints of those a reporter may rub shoulders with. The BNP exists only as an external force, an opponent to integration along with a competitor to the far more heavily covered Farage’s start ups and flash-in-the-pan lobbyists. There’s probably a justification for this approach that goes beyond “who your mates down at the pub were”, but I am a little suspicious, nonetheless.

Within these constraints, I rate Between the Waves as four stars as there is depth and good writing. As you should read multiple books about the UK’s relationship with Europe anyway, I am happy enough with the limited perspective.

[Finlay · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic explainer of the currents and counter-currents of Britain's involvement in the European project.

Considering the centrality of the EU in making and breaking British political projects, it is often sidelined sidelined by- very important- topics such as yclass and left-right ideology. But this books shows how Europe breaks through class and ideological alliances through topics such as sovereignty, nationality, immigration, and trade. Particularly enlightening is how James Goldsmith was able to institutionalise euroskepticism by influencing the selection of MPs- a war of manoeuvre.