John Meakin

Nothing has divided Britain more over the past 40 years than the question of its place in Europe. It joined the nascent EU in 1973 for economic reasons—with the assurance that there was no political dimension involved.

But after the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 revealed the political ambitions of the EU, establishing itself as a political entity in its own right, a growing proportion of the British complained they had never been truthfully consulted about the organisation they were now part of—one that was headed toward “ever closer union” and some kind of federated superstate.

Every now and again a new dawn brings surprising and unexpected events that have the power to recast the course of history, and send it in a radically different direction. Friday, June 24, 2016 was one of those days, as the world woke up to the shocking news that, after 43 years as part of the European Union, Britain had voted to leave. This truly seismic event sent immediate economic and political shockwaves around the globe, and plunged the EU into the greatest crisis of its 59-year history.