Despite the plethora of textbooks available on the European Union and the wide range of interdisciplinary and non-specialist courses on which it is studied, there has, surprisingly, until now been no single text providing concise coverage of all its major dimensions and implications. Rather than focusing just on the history or the politics or the economics of the EU or on detailed coverage of its institutions and/or policies, John McCormick's new book introduces all aspects of European integration combining a very clear and accessible thematic narrative with boxed summaries of a wide range of essential facts and figures.

尽管有大量关于欧盟的教科书，以及研究欧盟的跨学科和非专业课程，但令人惊讶的是，到目前为止，还没有一本简明地涵盖其所有主要方面和影响的教科书。约翰-麦考密克的新书没有仅仅关注欧盟的历史、政治或经济，或对其机构和/或政策的详细报道，而是将欧洲一体化的所有方面与非常清晰和易懂的主题叙述以及大量基本事实和数字的方框总结相结合。