Achieving monetary union was "the difference between war and peace in the 21st century", according to former German chancellor Helmut Kohl. Some exaggeration, we suspect but European Central Bank (ECB) president Wim Duisenberg agrees.
The single currency project was an attempt to deal with the historic problem of Germany's instinct to dominate Europe. As writer Thomas Mann put it: "Do we want to live in a German Europe or a European Germany."
Duisenberg's biggest challenge is to steer the ECB through a minefield of national interests, a task made more difficult by the French impression of him as a "Bundesbank clone" who imposes a "Germanic and orthodox colouring".
This wasn't the view of him when he started out with the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC, where he cut a dash as the "European Kennedy". Just into his 30s, in 1973 he became finance minister of the Netherlands in a left-wing cabinet.
The Bank is the story of the evolution and birth of the ECB and the single currency. Marshall got close enough to the central players but not too close - his analysis is sympathetic but detached.
More than 450 pages long, The Bank will tell you all you need to know and more about our new central bank.
However, Marshall does not get submerged in detail. His comprehensive account is informed by a broader perspective. There are profiles of the main players, and outlines of the historical and cultural influences lying behind the tensions (Maurice O'Connell is described as cautious and withdrawn, "a relative newcomer to central banking").
If nothing else, all pundits can agree the single currency is controversial and the book benefits from being free of trenchant opinions - Marshall has no ideological axe to grind.
For British Prime Minister Tony Blair, he says, the euro is like a girlfriend he doesn't want to introduce to his friends. But underneath the twisting and turning in public he wants to join up.
He argues that Britain's entry would be an advantage for the Republic because of the common economic cycles and reminds us we make up 1 per cent of the euro-zone economy.
According to Marshall, Maurice O'Connell believes Britain would be a welcome counterweight to German and French dominance, acting as an honest broker between the warring pair.
Despite the notorious media gaffes, Duisenberg and the ECB get the thumbs up. The bottom line is inflation control and this has been pursued relatively successfully.
Updated to take account of the euro's woes against the dollar, The Bank is primarily of interest to students and banking professionals but is nonetheless an excellent contribution to the debate on the new Europe.
jmulqueen@irish-times.ie
