Mansholt, a biography is the inside story of one of the founding fathers of the European Union. As a European Commissioner the Dutchman Sicco Mansholt (1908-1995) initiated the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). A federalist and a Eurocrat who forced through an allegedly bad policy that is still a millstone round the neck of European taxpayers, Mansholt was also every inch a politician who had the courage of his convictions. A charismatic leader and a model for EU-statesmanship. The book offers a critical appraisal of Mansholt’s life and work as well as a concise history of 20th century Europe. According to Chancellor Adenauer Mansholt – being a socialist and a farmer – was too much of a good thing. President Kennedy welcomed him as a good European, while de Gaulle denounced him as an enemy of France. And as far as President Nixon was concerned Mansholt was «that jackass in the European Commission in Brussels».