'John Gillingham has had the wit to get to the bottom of one of the central issues of Franco-German relations in the twentieth century and thus to a crucial aspect of modern international affairs more generally. Gillingham's work is one of the fundamental studies on the economic presuppositions of the reconstruction period.' Charles Maier, Harvard University

• 1. Mending a broken world: coal and steel diplomacy between the wars; 2. The greater and lesser wars; 3. From Morgenthau plan to Schuman plan: the allies and the Ruhr, 1944–1950; 4. Neither restoration nor reform: the dark ages of German heavy industry; 5. The end of the war against Germany: the coal-steel pool as treaty settlement; 6. The success of a failure: the European Coal and Steel Community in action, 1952–1955; Conclusion.

'John Gillingham has had the wit to get to the bottom of one of the central issues of Franco-German relations in the twentieth century and thus to a crucial aspect of modern international affairs more generally. Gillingham's work is one of the fundamental studies on the economic presuppositions of the reconstruction period.' Charles Maier, Harvard University

• 1. Mending a broken world: coal and steel diplomacy between the wars; 2. The greater and lesser wars; 3. From Morgenthau plan to Schuman plan: the allies and the Ruhr, 1944–1950; 4. Neither restoration nor reform: the dark ages of German heavy industry; 5. The end of the war against Germany: the coal-steel pool as treaty settlement; 6. The success of a failure: the European Coal and Steel Community in action, 1952–1955; Conclusion.

'John Gillingham has had the wit to get to the bottom of one of the central issues of Franco-German relations in the twentieth century and thus to a crucial aspect of modern international affairs more generally. Gillingham's work is one of the fundamental studies on the economic presuppositions of the reconstruction period.' Charles Maier, Harvard University

• 1. Mending a broken world: coal and steel diplomacy between the wars; 2. The greater and lesser wars; 3. From Morgenthau plan to Schuman plan: the allies and the Ruhr, 1944–1950; 4. Neither restoration nor reform: the dark ages of German heavy industry; 5. The end of the war against Germany: the coal-steel pool as treaty settlement; 6. The success of a failure: the European Coal and Steel Community in action, 1952–1955; Conclusion.