British policy towards European integration has been one of the most divisive issues in British politics since 1945. Based on a detailed evaluation of the newly accessible government records, of the Conservative Party records, private papers and interviews, this timely book analyses British European policy between 1945 and de Gaulle's veto against British EEC membership in 1963. It explores, in particular, the ambiguities in Britain's first EEC application of 1961. The epilogue highlights some of the most important continuities in British European policy until the present.