Writing the Rules for Europe

“Many studies have been done on Aristide Briand or Walter Rathenau, who led European integration efforts in France and Germany during the interwar year. There are fewer contributions on telecommunication or railway engineers, with a comparable focus on integration. Writing the Rules for Europe provides this rather neglected perspective. It is easy to read, but at the same time offers shrewd insights into the underlying technological structures of European integration, which should be valuable to scholars and the general public alike.” (Thomas Hoerber, Journal of Contemporary European Research JCER, Vol. 14 (03), 2018)

“Writing the Rules of Europe provides a 150-year history of the hidden expert-driven integration of Europe, which eventually led the EU to become the most important and contested producer of rules, regulations and systems for transnational interaction in Europe. … the book connects the history of technology, perspectives from transnational and global history, and European integration history in a way that is refreshing and, for the field of European integration history, absolutely vital.” (Haakon A. Ikonomou, European History Quarterly, Vol. 47 (3), July, 2017) 

“The book is a guide to the processes which continue to be the hottest topics regarding Western Europe and the European Union itself. … If you are a historian of science and technology or a scholar of global and international history, you will be fascinated. If you are teaching or studying cultural history, sociology or political science consider this book as part of your reading list. … it is a book made of steel and worth reading.” (Lyubomir Pozharliev, KULT_online - Review Journal for the Study of Culture, Issue 51, July, 2017)

“The book offers an exciting new history of European integration, finding its answers in Europe’s long technological trajectories. … Writing the Rules of Europe is an important new book. In dismantling the political myth of Europe, the authors unearth a long-standing institutional history of competitive, international rule-writing, by expert committees and cartels, that helped link and define Europe technically.” (Elisabeth Van Meer, Technology and Culture, Vol. 57 (2), April, 2016)