N. Piers Ludlow

N. Piers Ludlow

Research Interest

Europe
Cold War
Social History
Post-1945
Politics and Institutions

Biography

Professor Ludlow studied for his undergraduate degree at Trinity College, Oxford before moving on to St Antony's College Oxford to study for his D.Phil. He was then a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at Balliol College, Oxford until he joined LSE in 1998.

Professor Ludlow’s main research interests lie in the history of Western Europe since 1945, in particular the historical roots of the integration process and the development of the EU. He recently completed a monograph looking in some detail at Roy Jenkins’ presidency of the European Commission, which was published by Palgrave in April 2016. He also works on the Cold War, and in particular West-West relations during the East-West struggle. In the medium term he plans to write a detailed study of the development of transatlantic relations during the Cold War – and in particular of the way in which the Americans sought to balance their bilateral and multilateral dealings with their Western European allies, and the way in which the European allies jostled for the ear of the Americans. A first taste of this research appeared in his Journal of Cold War Studies article in 2013.  But the initial research priority will be a book assessing and analyzing Britain’s 40 plus years as member of the European Community/Union – from beginning until 2016. This will hopefully add depth and perspective to the current debate about Brexit and allow a clearer appreciation of how membership affected both the UK itself and the EC/EU more widely – and hence how both will be altered by the imminent end of this membership.

Courses

Professor Piers Ludlow teaches the following courses:

At undergraduate level:

At Master's level:

Publications

Professor Piers Ludlow has written three books: Dealing with Britain: The Six and the First UK Membership Application (Cambridge University Press, 1997) The European Community and the Crises of the 1960s: Negotiating the Gaullist Challenge (Routledge: 2006) and Roy Jenkins and the European Commission Presidency, 1976-1980: At the Heart of Europe (Palgrave, 2016), and (jointly) edited six more, Les administrations nationales et la construction européenne: une approche historique (1919-1975) (Peter Lang, 2005); European Integration and the Cold War: Ostpolitik-Westpolitik, 1965-1973 (Routledge, 2007); Europe and the End of the Cold War: A Reappraisal (Routledge, 2008); Visions of the End of the Cold War in Europe, 1945-1990 (Berghahn, 2012), The European Commission 1973-1986. History and Memories of an institution (Luxembourg: Publication Office of the EU, 2014) and The European Commission, 1986-2000: History and Memories of an Institution (Publications Office of the EU, 2019).

Other recent publications include:

Books include: