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Circle of Stars by Dermot Hodson
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Circle of Stars

A History of the EU and the People Who Made It

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Narrator Elliot Fitzpatrick

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Length 15 hours 51 minutes
Language English
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A compelling new history of the European Union and the people who sought to shape and challenge it—from Maastricht to today



The European Union is the most ambitious, and one of the most contentious, international organizations ever created. Decisions made in Brussels shape the lives of over 500 million Europeans, and its laws and policies resonate around the world. But how has the European Union endured over three turbulent decades marred by crises at home and abroad?



In this major account, Dermot Hodson traces the development of the European Union from its establishment in 1993 through to Brexit, Covid-19, and the invasion of Ukraine. Hodson shows how the union has been held together not by faceless technocrats but national leaders who stood together in times of turmoil despite a fierce backlash from a new generation of right-wing populists. Circle of Stars offers a rich appraisal of Europe's troubled past and turbulent present—focusing on the people who built the European Union as we know it today.

Dermot Hodson is a professor at Loughborough University London and visiting professor at the College of Europe, Bruges, and was formerly an economist at the European Commission's DG for Economic and Financial Affairs. He is the author of The New Intergovernmentalism: States and Supranational Actors in the Post-Maastricht Era.

Elliot Fitzpatrick studied acting at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire before going on to appear in theater in London's West End, at Shakespeare's Globe, and with the Rose Theatre Kingston, as well as in international tours across Asia. As an audiobook narrator he has read over fifty titles, including books by Bear Grylls and mountain-climber Nims Purja, and in 2021 was nominated for an Audie for his work on the mystery thriller The Midnight Man by Caroline Mitchell. His voice can be heard in the video games Kings Bounty II and War Tales, as well as commercial work for Starling Bank.

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