Prologue: Dinner in Laeken (1989)
Kohl's great leap forward
The surgeons of French Realpolitiek
Exploiting Franco-German reconciliation
The Netherlands between Anglo-Saxons and Teutons
Journey to the continent

1 American concepts: building Europe (1947-1949)
Eternal division

2 Magical realism (1949-1951)
Putting the country's mental stability to the test
The Germany memorandum
Atlantis and bloc formation within the Western bloc
The Netherlands taken by surprise
Manufacturing a tranquillizer

3 The Beyen Plan (1951-1954)
The letter from 'the Ten'
Red versus Catholic
From Europe
A game for insiders

4 Around Cologne cathedral (1954-1957)
Adenauer's Abendland
Coordination through Europe's backchannels
With the Benelux to Sicily
Rebirth as a market
The latest trend
The Treaties of Rome

5 A Europe of conspiracies (1957-1968)
Faust in Paris
Rhetoric and intrigue
Market expansion by a gentleman farmer
Silence is golden

6 At home in the Basel biotope (1968-1974)
American dreams
An alternative loan circuit
Holtrop's logic
Masters of the interim stage

7 Sturm und Drang (1974-1982)
Late conversion
The monetary trilemma
Failure for Duisenberg
The stick of free movement of capital

8 The hand of French-German friendship (1982-1989)
A community united by blood
Celebrating success and earning money
Work in progress
The Delors report

9 After Strasbourg: a different party than expected (1989-1992)
Piet's work of art
The consequences

10 European realities: defining Europe after the Cold War
The direction of integration
The 1990s and after
The tragedy of Maastricht and Amsterdam
A rediscovery

Epilogue: the call of Calypso

Notes
Sources and references
Abbreviations
Acknowledgements
Index of names
Subject index