The mainstream narrative in Europe has traditionally been that the EU is a project of the elite that needs to be explained to citizens. Social historian Hartmut Kaelble (1) offers a different perspective on the citizens of Europe in his book ‘Der verkannte Bürger’ (The Misunderstood Citizen), published in 2019. (2) He taught as a professor of economic and social history at the Free University of Berlin from 1971 to 1991 and as a professor of social history at Humboldt University from 1991 to 2008, both in Berlin. Kaelble examines the role of citizens in European unification and thus presents ‘A Different History of European Integration since 1950’. The book deserves more attention, and its contents are presented below.
