This book includes the economic history of some of Western Europe with a focus on the United Kingdom, Germany and France from 1945 to a few years before original date of publishing in 1967.

This is the ideal companion text to A Political History of Western Europe Since 1945. It is an introductory survey which explains how western Europe built up its postwar prosperity and is moving towards continental integration. Themes treated include: the origins of the EC; consumerism; youth culture and protest; immigration; the oil crisis and its aftermath; and the contrasting experience and expectations of the Nordic world and the Mediterranean south. The book ends with the consequences of Soviet collapse. Designed for general history students, it assumes no formal knowledge of economics, and is notably accessible and user-friendly in its approach.

First Published in 2005. The author’s intention was to write a history of the greatest economic boom in European history, of that unique, ugly and triumphant experience of the 1950s and 1960s which changed so utterly the scope of human existence and expectations as well as the consciousness of the people of western Europe. But it became clear that this extraordinary boom had one other attribute as unique as the remarkable length of time over which the growth of output, incomes and wealth lasted.

"The internationalization of the world economy and the economic and political development in Europe are factors that have fostered new interest in the common economic heritage of the European countries. Spanning 500 years, this tale of the economic history of Western Europe seeks to unearth the roots of present day problems."