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After all of the debates, manoeuvrings, recriminations and exaltations, Brexit is upon us. But, as Kevin O’Rourke writes, Brexit did not emerge out of nowhere: it is the culmination of events which have been under way for decades and also have historical roots stretching back again well beyond that. Brexit has a history.

O’Rourke, among the leading economic historians of his generation, explains not only how British attitudes to Europe have progressed, but also the way the EU’s history about A Brief Background of Brexit: From Brentry to Backstop points out why it operates since it does today – and exactly how that background has designed the ways in which it has taken care of immediately Brexit. Why are the economics, the politics and the history so tightly woven jointly? Crucially, he also clarifies why the issue of the Irish boundary is not just one of customs and trade, but for the EU goes to the center of what it is about. The way in which United kingdom, Irish and European histories continue to interact with each other will shape the future of Brexit – and of the continent. Quiet and lucid, A Short History of Brexit goes up above the usual fray of conversations to provide refreshing perspectives and understanding of probably the most momentous politics and economic modification in Britain as well as the EU for decades.