‘A More Perfect Union’ is an intellectual tour de force on a truly European scale. Livestro’s book brims with incisive insights into the long story of ‘federal union’ in Europe and the Atlantic. It sparkles as a study of Europe’s longue durée. As befits a fine and lucid work of historical synthesis, it urges the reader to reflect, not just on the great and disastrous ‘Machiavellian Moments’ of European pasts but also on our own opportunities to shape Europe’s futures as a ‘federal union’. Martin van Gelderen, professor in European intellectual history, University of Göttingen Joshua Livestro’s book, ‘A More Perfect Union’, is a beautiful, wholly original study of five hundred years of European history which shows the strong, and ever closer, bond between the peoples of Europe. Eloquently and incisively, Livestro shows how thinkers, dreamers and leaders (“from Machiavelli to Monnet”) at every turn reached for the concept of federal union in their search for a continental order that could secure peace, freedom and equality. The lessons from their successes - and no less importantly: their failures - can inspire us today in our own quest for a more perfect union. Professor Catherine de Vries, holder of the Generali Endowed Chair in European Policies and Dean of International Affairs at Bocconi University, Milan
