In the first of two extracts from his new book, David Marsh outlines the problems surrounding the tensions that hold the currency together but hinder its future.

We should cherish no false illusions about a quick end to the euro crisis. Routes out of it are barred by a series of self-reinforcing blockades. Europe, it is often said, has many times drawn back from the brink and emerged victorious from its travails. Yet this time may indeed be different. Not salvation, but a long period of further confusion lies before us - not unlike the inexplicable, unending conflict among Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia in George Orwell's merciless Nineteen Eighty-Four.