The great alliance and partnership between the United States and the Western European countries has dominated and to a large extent shaped the world over the last five decades. This book examines the nature and consequences of this novel alliance and sets it within the context of three centuries of transatlantic interaction. The US-European partnership created peace and a degree of previously unknown prosperity for all its members. It also, as the authors show, created innumerable linkages - military, economic, cultural and political - which unite Western Europe and North America in multiple and often unexpected ways. In showing what these are, the book provides a complete introduction to the events, institutions, personalities and cultures of the period. The final chapters describe the ending of the Cold War, the process of incorporating the formerly Communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and the contemporary problems of democratization and the break-up of the former Soviet empire. The authors conclude by considering the key current questions: what should be the future role of the United States within Europe, the Balkans and the new Russia? How will the European Community fare in the future? How far will the newly-united Germany influence and change the course of events throughout the West? Written in a readable style, entirely free of jargon and laced with anecdote and humour, The United States and the New Europe provides a stimulating introduction to the history of the last half of the twentieth century.