Tackling the alphabet soup of European Union treaties, structures, and policies, this straightforward introduction demystifies the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Hosli first traces the history of monetary integration in Western Europe and discusses the political and economic factors that led ultimately to the establishment of EMU and the euro. Then, in language accessible to the nonspecialist, she explains how it actually works. Ranging from institutions to performance to the impact of the euro both within Europe and on the international monetary system, she provides a welcome primer on this new phenomenon in the global political economy.