Noel Salter (1929-1975) was a close friend of Uwe Kitzinger from their days together as Scholars of New College, Oxford, and then a colleague, first at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg (where Salter preceded him 1950-55) and, some twenty years later, again at the European Commission in Brussels (1973-75). A man of deep Christian convictions, he worked tirelessly until his early death for their common ideal of a united Europe and of its playing a positive economic and political role for the world at large. He served as Clerk Assistant of the Assembly of the Western European Union in Paris (1955-63) and then worked for the British Council of Churches (1963-68) and the Commonwealth Secretariat (1968-73) in London. Outside his civil service duties he and his wife Elizabeth urged fellow-Christians to social and political activism.

The material reflecting the various steps in the career of Noël Salter is a must for those reearching the history of European Integration from the Congress of Europe 1948, the Council of Europe 1950- , the WEU 1954 - , the British Council of Churches: this was an important post - absolutely consistent with the rest of his career - for turning the Church towards European integration, involvement in the Commonwealth Secretariat and finally the European Commission from 1973-75.