A large-scale historical investigation of the critical first stage of European integration.
1. Mending a broken world: coal and steel diplomacy between the wars; 2. The greater and lesser wars; 3. From Morgenthau plan to Schuman plan: the allies and the Ruhr, 1944-1950; 4. Neither restoration nor reform: the dark ages of German heavy industry; 5. The end of the war against Germany: the coal-steel pool as treaty settlement; 6. The success of a failure: the European Coal and Steel Community in action, 1952-1955; Conclusion.